Jobbik, an ultra-nationalist party in Hungary, was founded in 2003. By 2010, this party had secured national parliamentary representation and sent three representatives to the European parliament. In its manifesto and public speeches, Jobbik has called for Hungary to leave the European Union and possibly the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and to forge relations with, among other Eastern countries, Russia, China, and Iran. Meanwhile, the group rattles sabers-and nerves-on Hungary's uneasy borders with Slovakia and Romania, states with significant Magyar minorities. This thesis seeks to answer the following questions: What will a Jobbik-influenced Hungary mean for Europe and the European Union confronted by political, social and economic turmoil that can swiftly has security implications? What, if anything, can the EU or NATO do to influence the path of a once-promising democracy in the heart of Europe and the resurgent nationalist conflict in Eastern Europe? This thesis concludes that Hungary will maintain its strategic usefulness to NATO regardless of whether it can maintain a Western-styled democracy-NATO's other Allies will be content to defer action to other European institutions. The EU's previous attempts to influence far-right governments have failed and many of the EU's member states have human rights issues of their own-The EU is not likely to take meaningful action against Jobbik. Therefore, it is up to the Hungarians to save their own democracy. CHAPTER I * JOBBIK: A BETTER HUNGARY AT THE COST OF EUROPE * A. IMPORTANCE * B. PROBLEMS AND HYPOTHESES * C. LITERATURE REVIEW * 1. Jobbik's Constituency: Confounding Observers' Expectations * 2. Jobbik Policies: A Guilty Pleasure throughout the European Right * 3. Ramifications * D. METHODS AND SOURCES * E. THESIS OVERVIEW * CHAPTER II * THE HISTORY OF ANTI-SEMITISM AND FASCISM IN HUNGARY * A. JEWS AND ANTI-SEMITISM IN HUNGARY'S PAST * 1. Hungarian by Decree: Jewish Emancipation, Acculturation, and Assimilation * 2. The Enlightenment: The Divergence of Two Europes * 3. Jews in Europe: Making the Most of a Bad Situation * 4. Jews in Hungary: From Golden Age to Scapegoat * a. The Golden Era: From Ausgleich to World War I * b. The Interwar Period * B. HUNGARY'S FASCIST PAST: WILL IT BE JOBBIK'S FUTURE? * 1. Far-right and Fascist Groups Emerge * 2. Fascism's Violent Last Gasp * C. CONCLUSION: THE FRUITS OF AN UNADDRESSED PAST * CHAPTER III * JOBBIK: "A MOVEMENT FOR A BETTER HUNGARY" * A. JOBBIK: NOT YOUR FATHER'S FASCISM * B. JOBBIK'S BEGINNINGS: "US" VERSUS "THEM" * C. THE ROMA: AN INVASION FROM WITHIN * D. THE HUNGARIAN JEWRY: THE INVASION FROM WITHOUT * E. JOBBIK AND ISLAM: NOT WHAT YOU MIGHT EXPECT * F. JOBBIK'S FOREIGN POLICY: FROM WEST TO EAST * G. CONCLUSION: GOULASH EXTREMISM * CHAPTER IV * THE HUNGARIAN GUARD: JOBBIK'S PARAMILITARY ARM * A. THE HUNGARIAN GUARD: REFLECTIONS OF A SHADOW * 1. Interwar Party Militias in Italy and Germany * 2. The Political Militia in Interwar Hungary * B. EUROPEAN GENDARMES: A FORCE FOR GOOD * C. THE NEW GUARD AND THE OLD GENDARMERIE: AN UNSHAKEABLE LINK * 1. The Hungarian Guard: An Aggressive Neighborhood Watch? * 2. ...Or the Return of Baky's Thugs? * CONCLUSION * CHAPTER V * CONCLUSION: WHAT IS TO BE DONE? * A. WHAT CAN THE WEST DO? * 1. NATO: Security Supersedes Democracy * 2. The European Union: Good Intentions but Weak Resolve * 3. Current Options for European Intervention * 4. The EU versus Nationalism: More Harm than Good? * B. "IF NOT US, WHO?" * C. CONTEXT HAS MEANING: THE VIEW FROM HUNGARY