France
François Hollande And The EU's Alternatives
Major political change is afoot in France, where a presidential election has brought anti-austerity politician François Hollande to power. In the face of the EU’s economic crisis, incumbent president Nicolas Sarkozy has cooperated closely with German chancellor Angela Merkel to push for tough austerity measures. Now, France’s leadership is poised to go in a different direction. READ MORE >>
Europe’s Other Crisis
Europe’s Angry Muslims: The Revolt of the Second Generation By Robert S. Leiken (Oxford University Press, 354 pp., $27.95) After the Fall: The End of the European Dream and the Decline of a Continent By Walter Laqueur (Thomas Dunne Books, 322 pp., $26.99) READ MORE >>
Sarkozy's Electoral Problem And France's Far Right
After a weak showing in Sunday’s first-round vote, French president Nicolas Sarkozy is scrambling for a bigger share of the electorate—and to get it, he’s making an appeal to France’s far right. That’s because the National Front party, led since last year by Marine Le Pen (daughter of the notorious Jean-Marie Le Pen), took almost 18 percent of the vote, compared to Sarkozy’s 27 percent and Socialist challenger Francois Hollande’s 29 percent. READ MORE >>
Genocide and the Fine Arts
The Patagonian Hare: A Memoir By Claude Lanzmann Translated by Frank Wynne (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 528 pp., $35) I. READ MORE >>
Masters and Boys
The Kid with a Bike Michael A mistake. A few weeks ago, reviewing the distinguished film Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, I said it had won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival last year. In fact, it shared the prize with another film, The Kid with a Bike, which is of equal distinction. What an occasion. READ MORE >>
Peace Out
Can Domestic Policy Affect Income Distribution?
On March 9, Carnegie Mellon economist Allan Meltzer argued in the Wall Street Journal ("A Look At The Global One Percent") that income inequality is a global phenomenon and therefore not a problem that can be solved through changes in U.S. domestic policy. He's right about the first proposition and wrong about the second. READ MORE >>
