France

France's disillusion extends beyond the country's president to its political class, economy and sense of social direction. The beneficiaries may include the far-right Marine Le Pen as well as the centre-left François Hollande, says Patrice de Beer.

A prophet-provacateur faithful to French traditions of lucidity, sensuality, and alienation, Houellebecq believes we are all doomed. The Map and the Territory continues his great project of exposing the limits of individualism.

A new French report into the incident that sparked Rwanda's genocide is of vital importance on three grounds: discrediting false accounts, establishing facts, and raising further questions. But it leaves critical questions unanswered, including over the role of a key French mercenary, says Andrew Wallis

The ‘Arab revolution’ as a phenomenon backed by France and its allies is evidence of the arbitrariness of liberal democracy long ago identified by the German jurist Carl Schmitt: it is no more than rule achieved through a state of emergency.

By showing us the possibility of democracy in revolution, they have ignited a revolution in democracy, one that is redefining the meaning of both terms.

An insipid economy, a tornado of scandal, anaemic support, an alienated core, internecine war on the right, a show of opposition unity - France’s president faces a perfect storm all of his making. But are these really Sarkozy’s last days, asks Patrice de Beer.

Monsoon flooding causes chaos in Pakistan, India. Seven killed as police open fire on protestors in Tamil Nadu. Blast at French nuclear plant sparks fears of leak. At least 75 killed in Nairobi pipeline explosion. Troops sent to quell Indonesia clashes. All necessary measures authorised to stop Jos violence. All this and more in today’s security briefing...

Libyan rebel forces encircle Sirte, as Saif al-Islam Gaddafi presses for resistance. South Korea appoints Yu Woo lk as its new unification minister. The Sri Lankan government introduces new anti-terrorism rules after emergency laws expire. And Iran plans to continue enriching 20 percent uranium. All this in today’s briefing…

A recurring idea in the work of Milan Kundera is that the spirit of totalitarianism lives on in our mass media. In a world without privacy, will we all be perpetually on trial?

In July, amidst great drama, the Eurozone seemed to enact a political compromise, saving the euro as a single currency. Its effects on stabilisation are uncertain, but a Eurozone that is politically ‘less weak’ will do ‘less badly’ in the coming major collapse.

What do the mountains of debt of a west that used to be rich have in common? Were errors made in the construction and constitution of the European Union? If so, how do we mend them?

The ending of the legal case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn leaves France’s socialists still looking for a strategy - and a candidate - able to defeat Nicolas Sarkozy in 2012. They have a tough legacy to overcome, says Patrice de Beer.

French and British cities are alone in Europe in experiencing recurrent urban outbreaks of disorder and mayhem. What can we tell from comparing the English riots to what happened in French cities and towns in 2005?

The ascendancy of Martine Aubry as a main Socialist Party candidate for next year’s Presidential elections and the rise of Eva Joly to Presidential candidate for the Green Party tell one story of the success of women on the French left. The response to the DSK arrest and Segolene Royal’s treatment by the party elephants, however, shows a darker side to the French left’s treatment of women in politics.

The arrest in New York of the head of the International Monetary Fund and leading French politician on charges of sexual misconduct is a confusing and revelatory moment in France's public life. Whatever the legal outcome of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s case some uncomfortable truths have to be faced, says Patrice de Beer.

In recent weeks, one word has dominated the headlines: rape. The events worldwide have shown how rape remains in the bloodstream of our culture, while our language on the crime is distorting and debased

What do we need to be happy? The satisfaction of our basic needs? Independence? A positive lifestyle? Yes, says Matt Grist, but we must look beyond the individual towards deeper, narrative forms of happiness

The ritual slaughter of animals has become the last of many areas of contention that are changing the shape of our public domains. The way in which Islamophobia is becoming a part of our public ‘common sense’ has complex knock-on effects, not least for our Jewish minorities.

Europe’s civilizing mission is humanitarian - its duty to intervene to spread the good word, protecting the oppressed against local tyrants. The conditions by which this protection is granted are always dictated by the protector and never the protégé. Though this is not said, it is a given.

Nobody has raised real debates in national or supranational parliaments to discuss the excesses of the securitarian discourse. Quite the opposite: the left has adopted the security discourse wholesale as its own and entered into a kind of auction with the right.