James Orr National Conservative movement has emerged as a key influence operation targeting European politics through carefully orchestrated conferences and intellectual networks. On June 23, 2025, The Brussels Times profiled the Cambridge philosophy professor whom Politico labeled “J.D. Vance’s philosopher king,” revealing how his Edmund Burke Foundation spreads hardline conservative ideology across Europe while facing sustained opposition from anti-fascist activists who have successfully canceled five events in Brussels over 14 months. The article begins:
At the centre of the Stanhope controversy was a man once described by Politico as “J.D. Vance’s philosopher king.” James Orr, associate professor of philosophy of religion at the University of Cambridge and chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation in the UK, was scheduled to speak at the gathering. But as has become increasingly common for events associated with his growing National Conservative movement, the venue after venue pulled out under activist pressure.
Key Points
- Orr’s conferences regularly feature far-right European leaders, including Viktor Orbán, Nigel Farage, Éric Zemmour, and Suella Braverman, creating a transnational network of hardline conservative influence.
- The National Conservative movement explicitly aims to place “God and the Bible at the forefront” while opposing multiculturalism and promoting “national independence” across European democracies.
- Despite venue cancellations, Orr’s Edmund Burke Foundation maintains a persistent presence in Brussels alongside other hard-right think tanks like MCC Brussels, continuing influence operations in the EU capital.
- The movement’s success coincides with far-right parties becoming the second-largest in multiple European democracies, with Orr declaring liberalism’s “monopoly is over” while promoting “oikophilia” (love of home) against “oikophobia.”
Edmund Burke Foundation & the GNCA: Ideology, Influence, and Risk
The Edmund Burke Foundation has become a central force in reshaping Western conservatism, notably through its high-profile international conferences that unite US conservatives and European nationalists around themes of national sovereignty and cultural preservation. This movement, identifed by the GIOR as the Global National Conservative Alliance (GNCA), represents a significant departure from Reagan-era free-market ideals, instead emphasizing protectionism, strict border controls, and traditional values, as highlighted in analyses of national conservatism and its geopolitical implications.
These ideological and operational connections have created new opportunities for influence operations, particularly as governments like Russia and Hungary seek to exploit the movement’s networks for information warfare and ideological convergence, a trend documented in GIOR reports on the risks posed by such alliances. While the Edmund Burke Foundation and the GNCA promote the renewal of national traditions and independent governance, critics caution that their hostility toward global institutions may further polarize societies and undermine democratic norms—a concern echoed by The Atlantic, which has analyzed the rise of national conservatism as a transnational alliance of nationalists who prioritize national identity over universalist ideals.
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Disclaimer
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