Like the rest of Europe, France is gripped by the war in Ukraine. Days from the first round of the presidential election here, the incumbent, Emmanuel Macron, hopes to prevail with what was, for much of the last two months, a muted campaign in which he posed as a steady hand in a time of global instability, writes Harrison Stetler in this opinion article for The New York Times.
But for all the talk of a united West, the truth is that a noxious blend of oligarchy, nostalgia and bellicose nationalism is ever more ubiquitous on this side of the new Iron Curtain. In France, it is led by a buoyant and confident new right, represented in this election by Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally; Valérie Pécresse of the ostensibly moderate Republicans; and Éric Zemmour, the pugilistic proto-fascist commentator turned candidate.
Yet their electoral showing this month may be but a sideshow in a broader attempt to remake French politics. Behind them all, to one degree or another, is someone not even on the ballot: the media mogul Vincent Bolloré. The scion of an old industrial family, Mr. Bolloré wields a fearsome agenda-setting power; his outlets, known for adopting the flair, tics and style of Fox News, play an outsize role in directing the national debate. The three candidates from the right — and much of the political class, in fact — recycle, in varying shades, messages that run on a loop on his networks.
Those trying to get a handle on developments in France — where the fortunes of revanchist nationalism may not even depend on a far-right candidate coming to power — could do worse than to look to Mr. Bolloré, whose name is a byword for the political power of French oligarchs. Mr. Bolloré is a bellwether of a dangerous mood at the top of French society, one that extends far beyond the conservative wing of the elite. Fearful of decline, anxious about movements and ideas from below, the broader French establishment is eager to capitalize on the country’s divisions to cling to power.
Mr. Bolloré himself has ties in the most exclusive circles of the Parisian elite. After inheriting and reviving his family’s struggling paper business with his brother in the early 1980s, he developed a near monopoly on West African ports and logistics—activities from which he appears to be withdrawing. In the early 2000s, Mr. Bolloré set about building his media empire, which today encompasses two of France’s largest publishing houses, a major advertising agency, an array of society magazines and weeklies, a national radio network and the premium TV production group Canal+. Then there’s the jewel in the crown: the hard-right 24-hour news station, CNews.
Read more of this opinion article published by The New York Times.