Le Pen Is Out–But Not Down
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 […]
MoreA Few Notes on Election Night
(Originally posted on the Tocqueville 21 Substack) Not a victory for any one party, but an overwhelming defeat for the far right. Dear readers, All cards are now on the […]
MoreDefections and the Future of the French Party System
The French party system is in deep distress. This was already apparent in 2017, when the arrival of “neither right nor left” candidate Emmanuel Macron destructured the opposition that had […]
MoreThe Morning After
The 2021 regionals are history. What to make of the results? First, the vast majority of voters continued to abstain. Second, Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National suffered a severe setback. […]
MoreHas Le Pen Peaked?
The Guardian asked me to comment on last Sunday’s election. You can read the article here. Of course, the RN could still take PACA next Sunday, but the idea that […]
MoreThe Right Fractures
The warning signs have been present for some time. Les Républicains are on the verge of a crackup. Caught between Macron’s LRM and Le Pen’s RN, the party’s electoral space […]
MoreCan Marine Le Pen Win in 2022?
I assess her chances in Persuasion. The short answer: yes.
MoreMayDay: A Study in Contrasts
May Day in France is always marked by two starkly contrasting events: a march by trade unions commemorating the history of the trade union movement, and a speech by the […]
MoreThe Re-Demonization of the Rassemblement National
Over the past decade, since taking over control of the Front National from her father, Marine Le Pen has successfully moved the party, now renamed Rassemblement National, into contention for […]
MoreRaphaël Enthoven
Raphaël Enthoven was invited to address Marion Maréchal Le Pen’s nascent movement/party/LePenist fifth-column within the far right–whatever you want to call it. He took the occasion to challenge the New […]
MoreMarine Le Pen’s New Look
Detest her politics as one must, one also has to admire the way Marine Le Pen has played her cards. After her disastrous performance in the final presidential debate, she […]
MoreA Tale of Two Languages
My latest on the state of France in The New Republic. Photo Credit: Copyleft and Foto-AG Gymnasium Melle, Macron & Le Pen, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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