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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/26/the-guardian-view-on-macrons-anti-populism-rhetoric-is-not-enough
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| The Guardian view on Macron’s anti-populism: rhetoric is not enough | The Guardian view on Macron’s anti-populism: rhetoric is not enough |
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| Emmanuel Macron’s mission to impress the United Nations this week was made easier by following Donald Trump. The French president’s impassioned defence of multilateral cooperation based on universal human rights was a rebuke to his US counterpart’s bombastic unilateralism. Earlier the same day, Mr Trump’s denunciation of “globalism” earned a cool reception. | Emmanuel Macron’s mission to impress the United Nations this week was made easier by following Donald Trump. The French president’s impassioned defence of multilateral cooperation based on universal human rights was a rebuke to his US counterpart’s bombastic unilateralism. Earlier the same day, Mr Trump’s denunciation of “globalism” earned a cool reception. |
| Ardent internationalism is Mr Macron’s preferred style, and he does it well. A substantial part of his winning election pitch against Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front in 2017 was defence of the European project. He sees himself as a figurehead for a continent-wide repulsion of populists, and hopes to engineer a “progressive” coalition in the European parliament due to be elected next May. At the UN he took his message worldwide, urging a renewal of global governance – “a new world order with a human face”. | Ardent internationalism is Mr Macron’s preferred style, and he does it well. A substantial part of his winning election pitch against Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front in 2017 was defence of the European project. He sees himself as a figurehead for a continent-wide repulsion of populists, and hopes to engineer a “progressive” coalition in the European parliament due to be elected next May. At the UN he took his message worldwide, urging a renewal of global governance – “a new world order with a human face”. |
| With Mr Trump in the White House, there is no doubt that liberal democracy needs global champions. And with Angela Merkel in her 13th year as German chancellor, bogged down in a fractious coalition, there is a vacancy for dynamic EU leadership. The problem for Mr Macron in aspiring to that role is the gap between his facility with words and his power to act on them. He won the presidency as the least worst candidate and his popularity ratings are poor. He has driven through difficult domestic reforms but has yet to show much for them in terms of economic or social dividend. He also has a habit of playing up to a caricature of elitism and arrogance in unscripted public appearances, most recently telling an unemployed man that work could be found by “crossing the road”. | With Mr Trump in the White House, there is no doubt that liberal democracy needs global champions. And with Angela Merkel in her 13th year as German chancellor, bogged down in a fractious coalition, there is a vacancy for dynamic EU leadership. The problem for Mr Macron in aspiring to that role is the gap between his facility with words and his power to act on them. He won the presidency as the least worst candidate and his popularity ratings are poor. He has driven through difficult domestic reforms but has yet to show much for them in terms of economic or social dividend. He also has a habit of playing up to a caricature of elitism and arrogance in unscripted public appearances, most recently telling an unemployed man that work could be found by “crossing the road”. |
| There is a danger that Mr Macron places too much faith in his status as a reformer before he has proved he can deliver, and in so doing sabotages his own ambitions. He is right to decry xenophobic movements that corrode European solidarity, but fighting nationalists who exploit the grievances of people who feel marginalised is more effective when you show compassion for those people. | There is a danger that Mr Macron places too much faith in his status as a reformer before he has proved he can deliver, and in so doing sabotages his own ambitions. He is right to decry xenophobic movements that corrode European solidarity, but fighting nationalists who exploit the grievances of people who feel marginalised is more effective when you show compassion for those people. |
| It is not clear that Mr Macron understands the economic or cultural drivers of Euroscepticism. His approach to Brexit – urging fellow continental leaders to take a hard line against compromise with Theresa May – expresses the impulse to demonstrate that anti-EU politics lead nations into a dead end. That cautionary principle is understandable, but its overzealous application is shortsighted. The danger of other EU members following the UK’s example is remote. The greater threat is Brussels’ inflexibility pushing Britain deeper into a dangerous illiberal reaction. | It is not clear that Mr Macron understands the economic or cultural drivers of Euroscepticism. His approach to Brexit – urging fellow continental leaders to take a hard line against compromise with Theresa May – expresses the impulse to demonstrate that anti-EU politics lead nations into a dead end. That cautionary principle is understandable, but its overzealous application is shortsighted. The danger of other EU members following the UK’s example is remote. The greater threat is Brussels’ inflexibility pushing Britain deeper into a dangerous illiberal reaction. |
| Mr Macron is right to defend pro-Europeanism in bold strokes, but his absolutist style risks provoking the forces it aims to neutralise. He speaks well in defence of the liberal international order. He would do well also to listen more to those who feel that same order has let them down. | Mr Macron is right to defend pro-Europeanism in bold strokes, but his absolutist style risks provoking the forces it aims to neutralise. He speaks well in defence of the liberal international order. He would do well also to listen more to those who feel that same order has let them down. |
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