National Conservatism conferences, one of the main meeting grounds for the global radical right, rarely attract much attention. If not for the decision of a local mayor, the same neglect would have befallen this year’s event in Brussels. But the mayor’s decision to shut down the conference on the grounds of “public safety” earned NatCon, as it’s known colloquially, headlines around the world. Although the decision was quickly overturned and the conference continued the next day, the damage was done. Cancelling a meeting of radical right-wing activists who rail against “cancel culture” qualifies as a devastating self-inflicted wound for those...