In many places, the nationalist-populists are on a roll, and that includes France, where Marine Le Pen has a spring in her step.
A report from the Associated Press is interesting. It says that Le Pen
envisions the protective hand of the state guiding a reordered economy that punishes companies that fail to serve the interests of the nation and rewards those that put France first.
In a speech on Wednesday, Le Pen laid out the nationalist policies based on “economic patriotism” that would be enacted if she wins the two-round presidential election.
Le Pen also pledges to pull France out of NATO, which she accuses of menacing Russia, and also of being an anachronism. (Le Pen has financial ties to the Kremlin, having taken a loan from a Kremlin-tied bank.)
In a recent podcast with me, Radek Sikorski — formerly the Polish foreign minister, and formerly with NR — spoke of a very potent combination: socialism and right-wing cultural politics; class resentment and a tribal, national resentment.
Marine Le Pen is projected to win the first round in France and lose the second. But who knows? If she is Madame le Président — la Présidente? (there is a debate about this) — things could get very interesting, all too.