The French Right

Dan DiSalvo outlines some of the political contours of the recent events in France. The two conservative candidates for the 2007 presidential elections, Nicholas Sarkozy and Dominique De Villepin embody the different responses to the uprisings, with Sarkozy taking the hard line in advocating force against the rioters and De Villepin taking the characteristically softer line. Sarkozy is isolated for now, but he alone appears to have an interest in integrating the Arab minority instead of buying them off with social programs. As the center-right fights it out in France, "[t]he fascist Jean-Marie Le Pen looks on approvingly," concludes DiSalvo.