So far so good. Brexit is still on track, Theresa May retains her majority, Jeremy Corbyn remains popular without threatening to bring down the government. Yet everything suggests that this relative political stability in Britain could swiftly unravel and provoke new shock-waves. Brexit continues to dominate public discourse and the political agenda and will probably […]
Can Macron Succeed Where Obama Failed?
For the first time in years, France is being looked at with interest and admiration. The country is having its ‘Obama moment’: the feeling that no ambition is too high for a great nation, especially when it comes to carrying the torch of liberal democracy and optimism. In fact, the parallels between Obama’s 2008 and […]
More To Macron Than Ideological Ambiguity
When asked where he stands on the left-right axis, Emmanuel Macron gives a long answer along these lines: “I come from the left, but I don’t believe the left-right divide is the right one today. Look at how both the left and the right are divided, and how primaries have reinforced radicals from each side. […]
Europe 2.0? The EU After The British Referendum
For Brexiters, history is already written: the EU is on course to become a superstate. Britain had better jump off the train before it happens, and other enlightened nations would be well-advised follow suit. Those who have studied European integration in recent years know that this claim is not just gross exaggeration – it is […]
French Labour Market Reform: Good Intentions, Poor Delivery
France has not been short of controversial discussions in the past few months, in a context dominated by the terrorist threat. A few days ago, President Hollande closed a painful chapter by dropping the project of constitutional revision that would have made it possible to strip convicted terrorists of French citizenship. Since then, however, the […]
The Left Needs A Better Conversation On National Sovereignty
EU membership is not a contradiction to national sovereignty; it has become a condition for it. Gone are the days when talking about national sovereignty was associated with backwardness and narrow-minded conservatism. Everywhere in Europe, a section of the left is standing up to reclaim this concept and explain that regaining control over one’s own […]
Pegida’s Spirit Haunts France – With No Response Yet
Pegida may have caught everyone by surprise in Germany, but its spirit is unfortunately all too familiar to French people. With the Front National’s enduring presence and future prospects, anti-Islam, ant-immigration, anti-establishment views of the world have been casting a long shadow over French politics for more than thirty years now. This may paradoxically explain […]