Emmanuel Macron’s Centrist Victory May Only Add Fuel to the Populist Fire
France’s Middle-of-the-Road Strategy Risks Alienating the Left, Enraging the Right, and Inspiring Almost No One
Last year, the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President sparked fears of a worldwide populist revolt. But when Geert Wilders’s right-wing populist Freedom Party finished second in the Dutch general elections in March 2017, and Marine Le Pen was defeated in the run-off of the French presidential elections two months later, some political commentators were quick to suggest that we have passed “peak populism.”
In particular, the notable victory of Emmanuel Macron in France led many to conclude that the populist …
