Awakening the Heartlands

A Study of Middle America and Central Europe as Geopolitical Imaginaries of the Radical Right

Bibliographic Data

ID7785136
AuthorsBenedek Kovacs (0009-0006-0622-8948, Queen Mary University of London, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume30
Issue5
Pages2360-2387
Publication date2025-10-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650045.2025.2476975
OpenAlexW4408536884
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited32

For decades, thinkers of radical right have sought to identify the geopolitical blocs capable of challenging liberal hegemony. In the United States, paleoconservatives like Sam Francis believed that Middle America, the nation’s long-forgotten conservative core, was destined to overthrow the rule of the coastal liberal elite. Donald Trump has embodied that vision in his descriptions of the carnage wrought on America’s heartlands and in his assault on the bureaucratic structures of Washington, D.C. In Hungary, national radicals like István Csurka argued that Central Europe, unshackled from the bonds of communism, was best placed to challenge the rule of liberal Western Europe. Viktor Orbán has represented that vision in his efforts to turn the Visegrád Group into an illiberal bloc. This article explores Middle America and Central Europe as geopolitical imaginaries of the radical right. Such imaginaries are malleable constructs which help them extend the reach of their political projects

Economic history · Economics · Economy · Geopolitics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Radical right · Sociology · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · History · Law · Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America · Populism, Right-Wing Movements