Jean-Marie Le Pen shocked the world on April 21 when he eliminated socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in the first round of France’s presidential election. But Le Pen’s triumph was merely the latest in a string of right-wing electoral victories that have embarrassed established social democratic regimes throughout Europe. From Italy and Austria to Belgium […]
Sasha Polakow-Suransky
Sasha Polakow-Suransky is a senior editor at Foreign Affairs. His book, The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa, will be published by Pantheon next May.
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Le Pen’s Sword:
On the evening of Sunday, April 21, France was shaken from months of political stupor by the second-place finish of ultra-right-winger Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of France’s election, an event that has been described by Le Monde as no less than a “political earthquake.” The aftershock has spread throughout Europe, prompting leaders […]
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Echo Chamber:
April 20 was a day of contrasts in the streets of Washington. Gigantic Maryland Terrapins mascots urging people to “Mobilize” commingled with Palestinian flags, massive street theater puppets, and the occasional Korean drumming circle. Though the causes ran the gamut from ending union-busting to lifting sanctions on Iraq, the demand for Israeli withdrawal from the […]
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War Now, Peace Later:
On Monday, a cloudless 85 degree afternoon, a crowd estimated at 100,000 assembled on Capitol Hill to rally in support of Israel. Speakers came from across the political spectrum: former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, and House Majority Leader Dick Armey, among others. The most […]
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Electoral Engineering:
Our votes must go together with our guns. After all, any vote we shall have, shall have been the product of the gun. The gun which produces the vote should remain its security officer — its guarantor.” Such was Robert Mugabe’s view in 1976, and it appears not to have changed. What have changed are […]
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A Politics of Denial
On the sidewalk outside the Durban International Convention Center last September, members of India’s lowest “untouchable” castes staged a hunger strike. They were protesting their government’s refusal to let the issue of caste come before the United Nations’ World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (WCAR). On the terrace of the nearby […]
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Flying While Brown
Like everyone else at San Antonio airport on the night of September 17, Ashraf Khan passed through tight security before boarding Delta Airlines flight 1469 to Dallas, the first leg of a two-day journey to Karachi, Pakistan, where he planned to attend his brother’s wedding. Khan, an 11-year U.S. resident with a green card, had […]