The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics

This book is an eye-opening account of transnational advocacy, not by environmental and rights groups, but by conservative activists. Mobilizing around diverse issues, these networks challenge progressive foes across borders and within institutions. In these globalized battles, opponents struggle as much to advance their own causes as to destroy their rivals. Deploying exclusionary strategies, negative tactics and dissuasive ideas, they aim both to make and unmake policy. In this work, Clifford Bob chronicles combat over homosexuality and gun control in the UN, the Americas, Europe and elsewhere. He investigates the 'Baptist-burqa' network of conservative believers attacking gay rights, and the global gun coalition blasting efforts to control firearms. Bob draws critical conclusions about norms, activists and institutions, and his broad findings extend beyond the culture wars. They will change how campaigners fight, scholars study policy wars, and all of us think about global politics.

'Clifford Bob is the first person to show how contentious movement politics on both the left and right has moved to a global stage. Tracing transnational networks within a range of movements, both religious and secular, he shows how countermovement struggles have expanded far beyond national boundaries. The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics is indispensable reading for understanding globalization and contemporary politics.'

David S. Meyer - University of California, Irvine

'Clifford Bob debunks a deep-seated myth that 'global civil society' consists of progressive NGOs that successfully pressure governments to bring themselves in line with liberal norms incorporated in human rights treaties. As is so often the case, the received wisdom turns out to be wishful thinking, and the truth is complex. Bob's carefully documented case studies reveal that international politics, like domestic politics, is an arena of ideological conflict where right-wing groups have shown that they can hold their own. This is a thoroughly satisfying and persuasive exercise in myth-debunking; it will reorient the literature and influence scholars for some time to come.'

Eric Posner - University of Chicago Law School

'Clifford Bob is one of the scholarly community's most counterintuitive thinkers on transnational networks, politics, and advocacy. His first book, The Marketing of Rebellion, highlighted understudied problems of scarcity, conflict and competition among local and international activists. With this new book, Bob once again forces us to think in new ways about important topics. The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics highlights neglected dynamics of claim and counter-claim, showing that liberals and left-wingers often share the global stage with equally committed conservatives. The unflagging left-right struggle that Bob uncovers shapes each side's goals, tactics, and achievements. As a result, this book offers exciting new insights on the world of transnational policymaking.'

James Ron - Harold E. Stassen Chair of International Affairs, University of Minnesota

'The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics is a very important book. By detailing the influence of right-wing activist networks in the battle for policy influence, it takes the gloss off the idealistic view of activism as always for the 'right' (meaning left wing) ideas that are seen to prevail through persuasion and deliberation. As such, it 'rights' the balance in the literature on global politics, by showing how right-wing ideas travel across the globe, carried by social activists who win through conflict and contestation, in pitched battles in both global institutions and national arenas. Best of all, the cases it discusses make for fascinating reading.'

Vivien A. Schmidt - Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration, Boston University