The far-right victory in the Brazilian presidential election marks a new indication of a wide-ranging political transformation in the world that could change the features it has known for decades. The so-called globalization or global political leadership has governed international relations over the past seven decades, but today it is collapsing or almost all over the world, replaced by extremist populist movements.

Last Sunday, Brazil's Paul Polisinaro, a leading leader of the far right, won a show of admiration for his country's former military dictatorship. On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that she would soon resign as head of the center-right party and give up power entirely in 2021. This coincides with the rise of anti-immigrant parties in her country and Europe in general. This is the latest sign that the leaders of the current situation - who believe that globalization leads to economic and social progress, for example - have lost their foothold.

"There is a collapse of the center, or more precisely the political institutions that can not respond to voters' concerns," says Matthew Burroughs, a former senior US intelligence official who was responsible for identifying global trends for the government.

Trump is the center of his supporters in North Dakota last month (Reuters)

Experts say people from Europe to Latin America are increasingly concerned about their economic welfare and public safety. The problem seems to be that populist movements - especially those on the far right - are offering new solutions to how these needs are met.

"The center is weakening, the left and the right fill the void," says Alina Polyakova, an expert on right-wing movements and European politics at the Brookings Institution's Washington think tank. "Voters are looking for clear ideas and do not want to hear from the bureaucrats who have been repeating the same debates for decades," she told Voges. She stresses that even if populist solutions are unpalatable, they offer at least a futuristic vision while the pro-globalization center has few other offers. Indeed, the type of global governance adopted by these centers - which encourages countries to work together to improve the world economy and security - is under great threat, and there is no sign that this threat is receding.

The European Storm
After World War II, there was a US-led effort to create what is now known as the "liberal international order." States have essentially agreed to give up some of their sovereignty and abide by global rules, mostly on how to stabilize the world economy and defuse tensions before a new war breaks out.

Europe has taken this seriously. Nearly 30 countries have joined the European Union, which operates as a huge country by allowing free movement of individuals and funds. It is at the forefront of globalization, with its countries economically and politically connected over time.

But the financial crisis of 2008, the increase in terrorist attacks on the continent and the influx of millions of refugees moving to Europe fueled an adverse reaction to that globalization. This growing feeling has benefited from weak political parties in Europe who believed in the need to curb globalization.

"It is not a new phenomenon. It may seem like a sudden burst of momentum, but these crises have just given more support to those parties capable of rallying the masses in a way that the center can not," she said.

For 13 years, Merkel has promoted policies consistent with the EU's message and global governance in general. But, clearly, the Germans now want change. It lost its coalition government of the center-right party and the center-left party in regional elections in October. At the same time, both the left-wing Greens and the far-right Germany have won popular support. The rise of the far right, which ranked third overall in the 2017 general election, continued.

Merkel said at a news conference on Monday that her days in office would end three years from now. "It's about the public fatigue of the same old leader in power," Burroughs said.

Germany is not alone in this direction. Hungary, Poland, Austria, Italy and others saw the rise of far-right movements. The historically strong left-wing Socialist Party in France has lost much of the national election in May 2017 and may take several years to complete. In Spain, the traditional left and right party structure has ended as a result of the rise of two new parties from outside the arena.

Therefore, populist movements in Europe may no longer be on the sidelines. "This is a perfect storm for a complete restructuring of policy around the world, and the middle left is the one most blamed," says Polyakova.

Polsonaru win
The failure of a major left-wing party in Brazil to explain why the voters chose the far-right candidate for their leadership. "Paulsonaru's election is interpreted as a violent reaction against the left-leaning Labor Party that has been in power for more than a decade," says Jana Nelson, an expert on Brazilian affairs from 2010 to 2015. "The election of a radical anti-minority leader and sometimes a hatred of women is often the result of anger from the left," she said.

Voters in Brazil have been frustrated by the current situation because of a range of political and economic crises. Current center-right president Michel Tamer is unpopular in the wake of a struggling economy and a widespread corruption scandal surrounding ministers in his government. Tamer took over from President Dilma Rousseff of the Labor Party, which was severed in 2016. Her left-wing predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption. The man is still popular in Brazil and tried to re-elect the prison but was eventually barred from running. If allowed, he may have been the preferred candidate in the presidential election.

Under the leadership of the Labor Party, crime has risen to the sky. The country has seen an average of 175 deaths per day in 2017 - a 3 percent increase over the previous year. It is perhaps no surprise that the Brazilians choose a radical change, even if it is not palatable. Some experts see Paulsonaro as part of a larger trend in the region.

It is no longer the issue of the left or the right, "Nelson says," alongside the victory of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador this year in Mexico - an era of popular left-wing leadership.

But Fabiana Pereira, an expert on Latin American politics at George Washington University, is not sure. This year, Colombia elected Evan Duki, a center-right politician. Next year, the region will see presidential elections in Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay. "So far, no politician has announced his intention to follow the Paulsonaru approach," says Pereira.

Is populism prevail?
The question now is whether populism will become the dominant trend and decades of global standards will be stalled, as confirmed by Steve Bannon, a former senior White House adviser who was close to Donald Trump.

"The national interest is the task," Panon says. "The populist revolution is now igniting like the fire of the prairies from Europe to North America to South America."

"The real change is happening - all over the world - whether the Davos Foundation Party likes it or not," he told National Interest last week. Of course, Bannon works to make such a prospect possible, so his assessment of the SPLM's success is not entirely neutral.

BANON: Populism is now burning like wildfire from Europe to North America to the south (Reuters -Archive)

Experts disagree with Banon's assessment. "The liberal system is under intense pressure," says Corey Shaki, an expert on international relations at the UK-based Institute for International Studies. "The arms of cooperative security and prosperity are still strong."

"One person who defies the essence of the liberal international order is Trump," he said at a rally last week, "I am a nationalist." "The Democrats want to turn the clock back, restore the rule of the corrupt and the proponents of power-hungry globalization."

Both his speech and his actions - including the fight against immigration and the reduction of free trade - are a clear effort to undermine the status quo.

Therefore, even if the populist movements - whether leftist or rightist - do not control the world, there is no sign that they will disappear from the scene soon.