Joseph de Weck

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Articles

Macron vs. the Extremists’ Nihilism

Dec 6, 2024 | ip-quarterly.com | Joseph de Weck

Paris feels like being engulfed by a whirlwind these days. The staccato-speaking TV anchors are even more nervous than usual. The rhetorical violence in France’s rarely neighborlypolitical discourse is reaching new heights. The government and the opposition are accusing each other in the worst possible terms. Farmer unions are threatening to visit the homes of MPs who opted to vote Prime Minister Michel Barnier out of office over his proposed budget this week.
It’s Macron vs. the Extremists’ Nihilism

Dec 6, 2024 | ip-quarterly.com | Joseph de Weck

Paris feels like being engulfed by a whirlwind these days. The staccato-speaking TV anchors are even more nervous than usual. The rhetorical violence in France’s rarely neighborlypolitical discourse is reaching new heights. The government and the opposition are accusing each other in the worst possible terms. Farmer unions are threatening to visit the homes of MPs who opted to vote Prime Minister Michel Barnier out of office over his proposed budget this week.
Choosing Barnier, Macron Opens a Path to Power for Le Pen

Sep 6, 2024 | ip-quarterly.com | Joseph de Weck

It is hard to understate the importance of Emmanuel Macron’s pick of Michel Barnier as his fifth prime minister. Macron, who was elected in 2017 by sending France political old guard into early retirement, is putting his country’s future and his presidential legacy in the hands of a 73-year-old boomer from the center-right. Barnier was first elected to the Assemblée Nationale, France’s parliament, in 1978.
Parliament Must Complete France’s Ballot Box Revolution

Jul 12, 2024 | ip-quarterly.com | Joseph de Weck |Shahin Vallée

For the past month, the French have once again been caught up in a dramatic vote. And as in every French vote, the election seemed existential not only for the French, but also for the European Union. The far-right and historically pro-Russia Rassemblement National (RN), led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, promised to take the fight to Brussels and was in the lead in the first round of the vote.
Macron’s Waterloo?

Jun 14, 2024 | ip-quarterly.com | Joseph de Weck

“Are you crazy?” a journalist asked the French president straight-up in an interview after Sunday’s shock announcement that snap parliamentary elections were to take place within three weeks. His party, Renaissance, had just lost big to the far-right Rassemblement National (RN). This is where we are in the summer of 2024 in France. It feels like President Emmanuel Macron has created his own Waterloo moment. A beleaguered French statesman tries to go on the offensive by rushing into a grand showdown.
Why Macron’s Ukraine Offensive Is Unlikely to be a Winner at Home

Mar 22, 2024 | ip-quarterly.com | Joseph de Weck

When Emmanuel Macron provokes an international outcry by declaring NATO “braindead” or not ruling out putting boots on the ground in Ukraine, foreign commentators are usually flabbergasted. What is the French president exactly trying to achieve with these declarations, they ask themselves. Struggling to find a convincing answer hacks usually resort to the most reliable law of political reporting: the primacy of domestic politics.
Germany’s Zombie Government Is Fueling the Far Right

Mar 20, 2024 | msn.com | Joseph de Weck

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Germany’s Zombie Government Is Fueling the Far Right

Mar 20, 2024 | theatlantic.com | Joseph de Weck

At a time when far-right movements are surging across Europe, Germany seems to occupy a zone of its own. On one hand, the country’s far-right Alternative for Germany—the party that wants to make abortion an “absolute exception,” shut down the Ramstein U.S. military base, and turn Europe into a “fortress” against migration—has been gathering strength, its poll numbers rocketing in the past two years from 10 percent to 19 percent.
The EU Is Close to Another Hamiltonian Moment

Feb 26, 2024 | ip-quarterly.com | Joseph de Weck

One of the characteristics of the European Union is that before it achieves its greatest successes, it usually lives through absolute low points. Remember how in 2020 EU solidarity faltered within days of the coronavirus arriving on the continent? Italy was the first European victim of the pandemic. In late February, Rome asked fellow EU countries to help with masks. Paris responded by nationalizing all medical protective equipment. This prompted Berlin to ban the export of masks.
The Netflix President

Jan 18, 2024 | ip-quarterly.com | Joseph de Weck

We all know the feeling when watching one of those Netflix series. At the beginning, the plot is captivating, the characters are intriguing. But one third into the second season everything deflates quickly. You start losing interest as the main character keeps on making the same mistakes over again and struggles to evolve much. Yet, just when you want to switch off, the series comes up with a big surprise. The story line takes increasingly improbable twists and turns that on the whole disappoint.