Art Goldhammer’s Blog

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People have been asking me what’s happening in France. Being a long distance away, I have no ready answer, but I am reminded of an observation made decades ago by […]

The Body Politic and Its Ersatz Double (cross-posted from Substack) I am old enough to have watched the first televised presidential debate in 1960 (Kennedy vs. Nixon). Yesterday I sat […]

Amateurs of French political rhetoric should treat themselves to a sample of the Ruffin-Villepin debate. Libération and BFM-TV did well to pair two candidates who both speak well and who […]

Eventually, as in every election, the parties must stop dithering and hoping, Micawberlike, that “something will turn up.” Gouverner, c’ est chosir, dixit Mendès France, and before one can govern, one must […]

Marine Le Pen has now officially thrown her hat in the ring; Jordan Bardella has been relegated to second place in the binôme that she announced last night would present itself to […]

A dramatic dénouement to the long-running Marine Le Pen saga. the appellate court confirmed the verdict of guilty on the charge of misappropriation of EU funds, sentenced her to 3 […]

Ask anyone in France today who is most likely to win the 2027 presidential election and the answer is almost certain to be “either Jordan Bardella or Marine Le Pen.” […]

Raphaël Glucksmann, who still has not officially declared his candidacy, staged a campaign launch rally yesterday at Les Docks de Paris in Aubervilliers. Although the stated capacity of the venue […]

Like it or not, the 2027 presidential race is under way. I plan to post periodically on the race. The field is crowded, as Le Gorafi, the French equivalent of The Onion, […]

I review Patrick Weil’s new book De l’immigration en France here.

cross-posted from my Substack:   I’ve been traveling in the UK and France for the past two-and-a-half weeks, which explains my silence here. While in Paris, I saw the newly […]

Can it get any worse for the Socialist Party? It can always get worse, of course, but the mass defection of the entire faction led by Boris Vallaud may well […]

Lionel Jospin has died. He was a good man, a less good politician; an able prime minister, a lackluster presidential candidate. He was among the most intelligent and impressive of […]

The results of the second round of France’s municipal elections are in. There is a little good news for everybody, which is another way of saying that the political landscape […]

The results of the first round of the 2026 municipal elections confirm the (hopelessly?) fragmented state of French politics and the growing apathy of much of the electorate. Participation was […]

First, to faithful readers, please forgive my long silence on this site. I’ve been busy launching my Substack site devoted to broader questions of US and international politics. Please check […]

President Macron’s initial response to the U.S. invasion of Venezuela was less than inspiring. He simply applauded the removal of a brutal dictator without mentioning the fact that the manner […]

I wrote about Putin’s willingness to discuss Ukraine with Macron on my Substack.

Today the National Assembly passed the social security budget by the narrow majority of 247-234 with 93 abstentions. Sébastien Lecornu secured the abstention of most Greens by making a last-minute […]

I make no pretense of attempting to describe the tortuous and tortured National Assembly “debate” over the budget. The whole exercise has been a case study in the weaknesses and […]

Raphaël Glucksmann has shown a bit of his hand. Having until now declined overtures from the Hollande wing of the Socialist Party, he finally gave in and appeared with the […]

So there will be no Zucman tax, not even in watered-down form, but the principal questions remain: Will a budget be approved? Will the government fall to a censure vote? […]

Eventually, even the blind man can read the handwriting on the wall. Despite his stubbornness, Emmanuel Macron knows how to read, and recognizing that the end was nigh, he finally […]

Chers amis, my powers of punditry are exhausted. Why would Macron re-appoint Lecornu, who failed to form a government less than a week ago? Has Bruno Retailleau agreed this time […]

Today, Édouard Philippe called on Emmanuel Macron to resign (after passage of a budget) and call an early presidential election, gladdening the heart of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who declared that LFI […]

The Lecornu government is no more, only hours after being named. I will waste no words on what went wrong: Lecornu was doomed from the beginning, because neither he nor […]

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to 5 years in prison (not just an electronic ankle bracelet, which he’s been wearing for some time now) for his part in […]

In military parlance, “to mark time” is to move one’s feet in a steady cadence without actually going anywhere. Emmanuel Macron, who entered politics with the command “En Marche!”, is […]

Macron, acting quickly for once, has nominated defense minister Sébastien Lecornu to be the next prime minister. This, of course, resolves nothing if Lecornu cannot win the confidence of the […]

I have a new piece in Foreign Policy. Unfortunately, it’s paywalled, and the title misrepresents the content, which is about what will happen when Bayrou falls and Macron doesn’t resign. […]

L’Express put some questions to me about the current crisis, and I answered them. A shortened, edited French version was published online today but is behind a paywall. Here is […]

As if the likely imminent fall of yet another government (with a vote scheduled for Seeptember 8) were not enough uncertainty for one week, a new social movement labeled Bloquons […]

“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” — Samuel Johnson Yesterday, Prime Minister François Bayrou stood […]

The Socialists have announced that they will file a censure motion against Prime Minister Bayrou. This was a demise foretold months ago when Bayrou first proposed the idea of a […]

A debate has broken out among three potential presidential candidates for 2027. It isn’t a particularly edifying debate, nor an incisive one, but phrases resembling ideas are being bandied about […]

The Socialist Party held its congress and confirmed its paralysis. Olivier Faure, the outgoing leader, managed to hold on to his post, but just barely, against challenger Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, after […]

What was Gaullism? Yesterday’s smashing victory for Bruno Retailleau over Laurent Wauquiez for the presidency of Les Républicains can be viewed in many perspectives–in terms of its implications for the […]

With Marine Le Pen sidelined, at least temporarily, it was inevitable that politicians from the not-so-center-right would make a pitch for her votes. Laurent Wauquiez, locked in a race for […]

Marine Le Pen has been found guilty of misappropriating European Parliament funds to support her political party in France. The sentence includes both hard “prison” time (2 years with an […]

As Dr. Johnson observed long ago, “When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” Donald Trump’s dressing-down of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in […]

“This is going to be great television,” President Trump declared with satisfaction after he and his vice-president teamed up to hector Ukrainian President Zelensky about his alleged lack of gratitude […]

A few days ago, Emmanuel Macron met with Donald Trump. After the meeting, Macron, with his usual self-confidence, seemed certain that he had headed off a US-Europe trade war: ‘“Come […]

As I write, François Bayrou is still speaking to the Assemblée Nationale, and the deputies of La France Insoumise have not given up their disgraceful heckling, despite having failed to […]

There are many rhythms in politics, in which, as the adage goes, “a week is a long time.” Sometimes. At other times, a lifetime is not long enough. Jean-Marie Le […]

Apparently, there will be no announcement of a new government this evening. François Bayrou has never been a man in a hurry. Unlike the president, who is always in a […]

After the now customary tergiversation, Emmanuel Macron has made his choice: François Bayrou. Bayrou, until now always the bridesmaid but never the bride, hadn’t been able to cash on his […]

Macron has spoken. He will not resign–no surprise there. Beyond that, he gave nothing away about his intentions, except to make it clear that he continues to believe in the […]

Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly last June because he knew he would face a censure vote on the budget in the fall. He had hoped to wrong-foot the parties […]

As the United States devolves into kakistocracy and Kiev trembles under the threat of massive Russian retaliation for the first use of long-range American and British missiles against Russian territory, […]

The circus is over, France has a government, and the government has presented its budget. It is a budget of harsh austerity, which seeks to cut expenditure by 80 billion […]

The French left is now doomed to opposition for the foreseeable future. This is perhaps not the worst place to be, given the fractious nature of the new minority-majority, which […]

Yes, indeed, the process of nominating a prime minister in France has been a rollicking circus worthy of Barnum and Bailey, and the nomination this morning of Michel Barnier therefore […]

The “Olympic truce” did nothing to clarify the French political situation. Now that President Macron has definitively rejected the New Popular Front’s prime minister-designate, Lucie Castets, an epidemic of bad […]

Édouard Philippe announced yesterday that he is running for president, although the election is still almost three years away. Or is it? As the seriousness of the current political impasse […]

Yaël Braun-Pivet has been reelected president of the National Assembly, narrowly edging out the NFP candidate André Chassaigne with the help of votes from the newly rebaptized Droite Républicaine, ex-LR. […]

The New Popular Front briefly reinvigorated the left with enthusiasm for the idea of stopping the radical right in its tracks and, with luck, achieving major social advances, including a […]

The Socialists, Greens, and Communists have agreed to propose Laurence Tubiana as the NFP’s candidate for prime minister, but LFI has rejected the proposal as “not serious.” On the contrary, […]

Blocages is too mild a word for the paralysis that has gripped the French political class since last Sunday’s election. It’s not just the tripartite division of the National Assembly that […]

The New Popular Front seems well on the way to following the old Nupes into oblivion. The four parties have been unable to agree on the name of a future […]

Yesterday was a day full of revelations. First, we learned that Jordan Bardella, deprived of the chance to become France’s next prime minister, will instead become the president of Patriots […]

What is one to make of all the posturing among the deputies newly elected to la Chambre introuvable? The Mélenchonistes look like amateur poker players going all in on a pair of […]

My reaction to the stunning election results is now up at The New Republic. Thanks for reading.

No, I haven’t been stunned into silence by yesterday’s amazing and worrisome result. I’ve written an article for The New Republic: here’s the link. In the meantime, I want to […]

The outcome of Sunday’s second round remains unpredictable. The désistements have made it even more improbable that the RN will win an absolute majority … unless, of course, voters decide not to […]

This electoral sequence certainly has not provided the “clarification” President Macron hoped for when he dissolved the National Assembly, but it has cleared up a few things on the left. […]

This morning on France Inter, Marine Le Pen stated in no uncertain terms that Jordan Bardella would become prime minister only if the RN wins an absolute majority: “Why take […]

It’s the morning after the election, but the dust has only partially settled. Even with the rapid désistements of candidates willing to abide by traditional “republican discipline,” the ultimate outcome is not […]

Emmanuel Macron, who may have imagined himself in de Gaulle’s shoes when he dissolved the National Assembly, might consider now coming before the French and announcing, “Je ne vous ai […]

Still reeling from Joe Biden’s disastrous performance in last night’s US presidential debate, I awoke this morning to an email from a Belgian friend with a link to the latest […]

In its successful effort to de-demonize itself, the RN has certainly benefited from the comparison with Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia in Italy. Like the RN, the FdI is a party […]

It’s hard to escape the impression that the New Popular Front coalesced around a name more than anything else. This was François Ruffin’s stroke of genius: to substitute a phantasmagorical […]

Upon dissolving the parliament the president said that it would lead to “clarification” of the political landscape: “The masks will fall,” he added. But clarity remains elusive. Indeed, the dissembling, […]

Is the center making a comeback? Harris is projecting the RN to win 220-250 seats, the New Popular Front 135-165, and Renaissance 125-130, half of its current 250 but still […]

A word much in the air these days is sursaut. It was a favorite of General de Gaulle’s, but it’s hard to translate into English. One dictionary suggests “surge,” which rarely […]

President Macron’s professed purpose in dissolving the National Assembly was to achieve a “clarification” of the political picture in France. People had supposedly become confused about what they were supporting. […]

Readers of a certain age may remember when the Communist Party of the Soviet Union described its inscrutable inner workings as “democratic centralism.” Within hours of its joyous birth, France’s […]

The Socialists, Communists, Greens, France Insoumise (LFI), and Place Publique have reached an agreement on a new Popular Front and will present a single slate of candidates in the first […]

I have a new article up at The New Republic. (There’s a problem with this link, which should be fixed shortly, however.) Here are a few additional thoughts. In the […]

The result was no surprise. The response was. But it shouldn’t have been. The polls had predicted a landslide victory for Jordan Bardella and the Rassemblement National for months, and […]

Tony Barber of the Financial Times has kindly cited one of my posts here. Barber includes a recent poll of présidentiables ranked by favorability, which alarmingly places Le Pen and Bardella […]

Yes, I know, the next presidential election is still eons away, but le bal des prétendants was already well under way when the orchestra struck several false notes. First, it was revealed […]

Last week President Macron surprised everyone by suggesting that some European countries might send troops to Ukraine if necessary to prevent a Russian victory. Perhaps that’s putting what he said […]

Emmanuel Macron is putting the resistance fighter Missak Manouchian in the Pantheon but has disinvited the Rassemblement National from the ceremony. The RN intends to make its presence felt anyway […]

5. Politics In a broad survey piece like this, I can’t cover party politics across Europe in any detail. Even summarizing political developments in the countries I follow closely is […]

This is the fourth part of a series of posts on the state of the European Union. 4. The Environment Environmental concerns have transformed politics in Europe more profoundly than […]

3. Economy For most of its history, economic issues have dominated the politics of the European Union at both the national level and the European level. Unfortunately, those two debates–national […]

This is the second installment of a series of posts on the European Union, the first of which appeared here yesterday and dealt with security. Today’s topic is: Immigration European […]

Having been charged by The Tocqueville Review with the task of contributing a reflection on the state of the European Union as a prelude to the European parliamentary elections, I […]

In his inaugural speech to the National Assembly today, French prime minister Gabriel Attal used the word “rearmament” 14 times, “poverty” only once. He indicated that his government would be […]

France has a new prime minister but not yet a new government. Perhaps the delay is intended to wring the full benefit of Gabriel Attal’s popularity from his nomination before […]

Laurent Fabius, who presides over the Constitutional Council, presented that body’s ritual New Year’s wishes to President Macron today. Macron, who availed himself of the same day to jettison his […]

In next year’s European elections the French Left will be represented by no fewer than five political parties: La France Insoumise, the Socialists, the Communists, the Greens, and the Parti […]

For a change of pace, this post will consist of a book review. Cole Stangler, a French-American journalist who covers French labor and politics for a variety of publications, has […]

It’s almost indecent to talk about the disintegration of the French Left while the disintegration of the Middle East is ongoing. While it would be an exaggeration to say that […]

Continuing the theme of my previous post, “Staying in the Game,” I want to comment today on another of President Macron’s strategies for keeping the political debate centered on himself, […]

La rentrée politique has arrived. I hope you’ve all had an excellent summer. I thought I’d break my long silence by taking note of Emmanuel Macron’s effort to remain relevant […]

Bavure policière, the conventional journalistic euphemism for the unauthorized police violence that has so often triggered the kind of uncontrollable popular violence that France has witnessed for the past four […]

Emmanuel Macron has decided to honor the Resistance leader Missak Manouchian by placing his remains in the Panthéon. An Armenian immigrant, Manouchian led the FTP-MOI (Franc-Tireurs et Partisans de la […]