A chaotic eurozone breakup would cause irreparable damage to the European integration project,

[pampango]

the central pillar of Europe’s political stability since World War II.

The nightmare scenario would also be a 1930’s-style victory for political extremism. Fascism, Nazism, and communism were children of a backlash against globalization that had been building since the end of the nineteenth century, feeding on the anxieties of groups that felt disenfranchised and threatened by expanding market forces and cosmopolitan elites.

Faced with the choice between equity and economic integration, communists chose radical social reform and economic self-sufficiency. Faced with the choice between national assertion and globalism, fascists, Nazis, and nationalists chose nation-building.

Fortunately, fascism, communism, and other forms of dictatorships are passé today. But similar tensions between economic integration and local politics have long been simmering. Europe’s single market has taken shape much faster than Europe’s political community has; economic integration has leaped ahead of political integration.

It is the extreme right that has benefited most from the centrists’ failure. In Finland, the heretofore unknown True Finn party capitalized on the resentment around eurozone bailouts to finish a close third in April’s general election. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom wields enough power to play kingmaker; without its support, the minority liberal government would collapse. In France, the National Front, which finished second in the 2002 presidential election, has been revitalized under Marine Le Pen.

The challenge is to develop a new political narrative emphasizing national interests and values without overtones of nativism and xenophobia. If centrist elites do not prove themselves up to the task, those of the far right will gladly fill the vacuum, minus the moderation.

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/09/europes-next-nightmare-right-wing-extremism/

[Demeter]

1. He says it like that's a bad thing

Europeans don't want to integrate, nor should they be forced to. It's not like Europe is going to explode into warfare. That's so 19th and 20th century.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. And yet the Greeks really want to remain inside the euro

as an opinion poll carried out for the Ethnos newspaper this week showed, 81% of Greeks want to remain in the single currency area

http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/how-could-greece-leave-the-euro-/72572.aspx

So, far from being 'forced to integrate', it seems a wildly popular option.

[pampango]

3. Historically (if that matters to Americans) it has been a bad thing.

“Europeans don't want to integrate…” Or Americans think Europeans don’t want to integrate because we wouldn’t want to? (Hard for us to imagine opening our borders to Canada, much less Mexico.) In terms of political parties in Europe it is the far-right that wants to weaken or eliminate the EU, not the liberal parties.

“It's not like Europe is going to explode into warfare.” Which is what they said in the 1920’s and 1930’s after a period of globalization. (From the OP: “Fascism, Nazism, and communism were children of a backlash against globalization…” History doesn't matter. Things are different now?

“That's so 19th and 20th century.” "History is irrelevant" (particularly when it goes against my politics) is so American? "Things are different now. The old rules don't apply." Or is the reason that Europe has been peaceful and prosperous for 60 years (an aberration in terms of their history) because they have reduced nationalism in favor of integrating their societies?

[Leopolds Ghost]

4. So Globalization is good and the left is bad?

[pampango]

5. No but the fact is that the far-right opposes globalization as much or more than the left.

French politician Marine Le Pen is attracting new voters to the National Front, the right-wing populist party founded by her father, by railing against immigration and globalization. With France's elections a year away, Le Pen is already polling ahead of President Nicolas Sarkozy.

She warns against refugees from Tunisia, and against immigrants in general. She demands social welfare systems for the French instead of for immigrants. And then she finally gets to her central issue: the fight against globalization, which Le Pen says is destroying France. She wants to leave the euro, reintroduce customs borders and nationalize banks.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,772875,00.html

Nine European Countries Where Extreme Right-Wing Parties Are On The Rise

Even where they have not yet triumphed electorally, far-right parties have forced mainstream politicians like French President Nicholas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to echo their xenophobic and Euroskeptic rhetoric.

While they often differ on social and fiscal issues, they are united by a common antipathy—to say the least—towards immigrants and the European Union.

There's a link that leads to a capsule of each of the 9 countries. They are: France (National Front), the Netherlands (Freedom Party), Finland (True Finns), Italy (Northern League), Switzerland (Swiss Peoples Party), Denmark (Denmark Peoples Party), Austria (Freedom Party), Norway (Progress Party), and Sweden (Sweden Democrats).

http://www.businessinsider.com/rise-of-far-right-populist-parties-can-derail-the-eu-2011-6

The European far-right opposes the Eurozone, the EU and globalization. They support increased nationalism while closing borders to trade and immigration.

In that way they resemble our far-right, teabaggers. They, of course, hate immigration ("we want our country back") and do not support international trade (though their republican politicians largely contradict them on this).