Why is France on Fire? | Nile Gardiner

It’s a day ending in Y in France, which means rioting.

Following in the spirit of 1789, the French are burning buildings, fighting the police, and overall behaving very poorly.

This time, the revolutionaries are highschoolers joined by Islamo-communists and anarchists waving Palestinian flags, but France has seen this style of faux revolution before. The rioters are the proud heirs of May ’68, an event that looms so large in the French psyche, the mere mention of soixante-huitards, or 68ers, is enough to spark furious debate.

Against the smoke and sirens lies a bigger question over whether France’s current system can hold. French presidential elections are coming soon, and far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon wants to replace the Fifth Republic with a Sixth, led by, in his words, créolisation. By contrast, leader of the right-wing Marine Le Pen represents a nationalist defense of the old France, but both movements are deeply skeptical of the European Union.

That’s a lot to cover. And who better to navigate us through some French politics than a Brit? My conversation with Nile Gardiner, Director of The Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center.