I’ve seen personally what hate looks like. Back in the 1990s, as a young criminal defense attorney, I represented young men in two different cases who were eventually acquitted after being charged for defending themselves against white supremacists.

Ever since then, I’ve closely followed how the far right’s language and images have leached into society; how it tries to justify its existence while concealing its violence; and how it’s become a globally connected movement.

Recently, we’ve seen white supremacist violence escalate dramatically around the world, from the Pittsburgh and San Diego synagogue shootings to the murder at the anti-racist Charlottesville rally in the US; from the Christchurch mosque massacre in New Zealand to last month’s surgical assassination of liberal German politician Walter Lübcke.

Not only did these killers share an ideology, but they drew inspiration from and celebrated each other. Despite this, under Donald Trump’s leadership, the FBI and Department of Justice have deprioritised investigating far-right violence.

These seemingly disconnected events are part and parcel of an emerging, global far-right movement whose core ideology is anathema to democracy. It uses nationalism as its cover, but make no mistake: its basic value is white supremacy.

We see this on both sides of the Atlantic. On one side, there’s Nigel Farage, the Brexit Party leader with documented connections to racists and anti-Semites, who has openly courted and consorted with white nationalist parties in other nations. That didn’t stop Trump from meeting privately with Farage on his June trip to London. Why would it?

Nancy Pelosi says Trump wants to make America 'white again'

On the other side of the Atlantic, senior officials in the Trump administration like National Security Advisor John Bolton have openly aligned themselves with and promoted Islamophobia and white nationalism. He and other government officials have ties to a vast web of Islamophobic think-tanks and websites which amplify these ideologies.

Someone who directly connects Farage and Trump is former Trump advisor Steve Bannon. The same Steve Bannon who told an openly white supremacist conference that they should wear the label of racist as a “badge of honor”, and who also once pitched Farage on fronting a global alliance of far-right politicians like Hungary’s authoritarian Viktor Orban and the Philippines’ murderous Rodrigo Duterte.

It’s no wonder that hate crimes have surged in Britain and America after the 2016 Brexit vote and US presidential election, or that they’re surging across the world. These crimes are united by so-called “replacement” theory. The theory — which the Christchurch ‘Preacher of Hate’ used to justify his acts — claims that European whites are being “systematically replaced by non-European people, mainly Arabs and Berbers from the Middle East, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.” The San Diego synagogue shooter cited the Christchurch terrorist’s logic as his inspiration. White nationalist protesters in Charlottesville chanted, “Jews will not replace us.”

We must vigilantly and consistently counter each of these acts of violence and expressions of hate in our communities on the ground. People of good will in my state of Minnesota, where I serve as Attorney General, are doing just that. But we have the opportunity — and the obligation — to do more.

Just as hate is now a global movement, resistance needs to be global as well. We can only defeat this resurgence of white nationalism by building a new global, multicultural, multi-racial resistance that operates swiftly and effectively across borders. Organisers, advocates, and civil society organisations, as well as political parties, donors, and politicians, need to start connecting with each other about the threat, and how they can coordinate powerful responses.

That’s why I’m writing this from London, where I’m connecting with senior parliamentarians from across the political divide. My message to them is simple: we can agree to disagree on many topics, but we should seize the opportunity to take a united stand against the forces of hate and build a global resistance together.

In Britain, North America, and across Europe, we also need to recognise and respond to two important facts. First, that Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and racism are tools that the global right are actively stoking in every country to divide marginalized communities from each other and to keep them from organising together.

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Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam A Proud Boy shouts across the police line at anti-Trump protesters outside the president's campaign launch in Orlando, Florida Getty Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam A Trump supporter poses for a photo at the president's 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida Reuters Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam A Proud Boy jeers at anti-Trump protesters who are separated from the president's supporters by a police line outside the president's campaign launch in Orlando, Florida Getty Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam A man dressed as Uncle Sam poses at President Trump's 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida Reuters Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam An anti-Trump protester faces off against a supporter outside the president's campaign launch in Orlando, Florida AFP/Getty Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam Members of the Proud Boys, a fascist group, jeer at anti-Trump protesters outside of the president's 2020 campaign launch Getty Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam A child holds a 2020 US "dollar bill" that features Donald Trump's face at the president's 2020 campaign launch EPA Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam Anti-Trump protesters rally outside the president's 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida Getty Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam Anti-Trump protesters rally outside the president's 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida Getty Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam Numerous baby Trump balloons are raised in protests outside of the president's 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida Getty Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam A supporter wears a T-shirt depicting Trump as a hero at the president's 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida Reuters Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam President Trump addresses supporters at the launch event of his 2020 election campaign in the Amway Centre in Orlando, Florida AFP/Getty Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam An anti-Trump protester calls for the president to be impeached outside the launch event for his 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida Getty Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam Supporters of Donald Trump face off against protesters outside of the president's 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida AP Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam A baby blimp rises behind a group of anti-Trump protesters outside the president's campaign launch in Orlando, Florida AP Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam A supporter dressed as Uncle Sam poses at President Trump's 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida AP Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam A member of the Proud Boys, a fascist group, holds a sign up outside of the president's 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida AFP/Getty Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam A supporter bears a Trump flag at the president's 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida Reuters Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam Protesters hold baby Trump balloons in the rally outside of the president's 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida Getty Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam An anti-Trump protester holds a sign accusing the president of being a traitor Getty

Second, that the global right has harnessed legitimate fears and anxieties of low- and middle-income white Britons, Americans, and Europeans about being increasingly economically marginalized, and has weaponized them effectively into increasing tolerance for white nationalism.

Look no further than Farage and Trump. We can’t counter that weaponization just by telling white people that their fears are wrong and anxieties misplaced. We can counter it only by listening deeply and genuinely, especially to folks in rural areas, and proposing solutions that put their legitimate interests on the side of the marginalized; thereby wrenching them away from both white nationalists and an unjust economic order that benefits from their fear.

Yes, this is a dangerous time: our democracies are under assault and people’s lives are being lost. But we cannot afford the luxury of despair. Our people and our democracies are depending on us to fight the global movement of hate with an interconnected, global resistance of solidarity and love. Let the connecting begin.