Across the globe, democracy appears to be in a curious state. One of the main indicators of the health or pathology of democracy is the turnout in elections. Some might claim that the high turnout for the Biden-Trump face-off last year was a sign of health for US democracy. But the aftermath...
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, may be unique on today’s world stage in an era marked by the rise of populism. He came to power in 2017 as a centrist maverick. He had no established party, ideology or tradition to guide him or fight for his future agenda. And yet, in the midst of that...
In early 2017, Europe’s far-right parliamentary bloc met in Koblenz, Germany, to plot its political future. The meeting of the bloc’s leaders — which included Marine le Pen from France, Matteo Salvini from Italy and Geert Wilders from the Netherlands — took place shortly after the...
The recent European elections have triggered dramatic changes in French politics but, with a murky political landscape, no one can predict where they might lead. The year 2019 has turned out to be rich in pretexts for political predictions. While India managed to hold an election that produced...
If Europe's economic situation fails to improve, the far right will be waiting to pounce again with their easy answers: nationalism and racism. The good news out of Europe is that Marine Le Pen’s neo-Nazi National Front took a beating in the May 7 French presidential election. The bad news is...
Leaks are actually a fundamental step in the right direction toward a more democratic system. Russia very likely interfered in the 2016 US presidential election and, more recently, in the 2017 French presidential election. This occurred primarily through the leaking of internal emails and...
Europeans want to upend politics as usual and the far right is still rising. If the left doesn’t come up with an unusual politics of its own, it will be upended as well. The last thing Europe needs right now is advice from Americans, particularly American progressives. After all, we failed to...
France offers us an unfolding drama with a cast of thousands. On May 7, nearly two-thirds of French voters boldly elected Emmanuel Macron president for the next five years. Or should I say two-thirds of French voters bravely refused to consider electing the representative of something that is...
France breathes a sigh of relief after Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the presidential election. Former banker and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron emerged victorious over Marine Le Pen in the second round of the 2017 French presidential elections on May 7. Unknown two years ago and never...
The French vote for outsiders because Charles de Gaulle’s Fifth Republic is failing to tackle challenges facing the country. This week, a 600-year-old oak tree that George Washington loved was cut down as the White House proposed tax reform. The Economist, no left-leaning lily livered...
