Media Interventions

An interview with Fabian Virchow, professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf and head of the extreme right Program at Hans-Böckler Foundation. M. Virchow came to Paris in April to speak at a conference on the German parti AfD -Alternative for Germany- organised by the Study Committee on French German relations.

The UK leaving the EU. Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election. The crushing defeat of Italy's prime minister in a national referendum. 2016 was a year of massive change led by populism. The roots of this trend are widespread, and they involve the ideological divide between the elites of current political systems and ordinary citizens, as well as the widening gaps in social inequality that can be attributed to growing globalization.

With just a few weeks left until French voters head to the polls, far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen made her way to Moscow for a surprise meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

The Netherlands and France are not the only founding member states of the European Union that see extreme right party’s on the rise. The “Alternative für Deutschland” gathers 10 percent of voting intentions in Germany – especially in the East. Some of its leaders don’t hesitate to use vocabulary banished since 1945.

PARIS — When the State Department released its annual human rights report last week, it contained many of the usual tough American judgments of other countries. Iran was criticized for restricting freedom of religion and the media; Russia for discriminating against minorities; Eritrea for using torture; Bulgaria for violence against migrants and asylum seekers. The list went on.

Four top European leaders hold talks Monday on the future of the European Union, at a time when it faces multiple crises that are sparking doubts about its very existence. Hosted by French President Francois Hollande at the iconic Versailles palace outside Paris, the dinner meeting that brings together German, Italian and Spanish leaders comes amid heated discussion about how to move forward the deeply troubled European Union in the face of Brexit, rising nationalism and an EU-skeptic Trump administration in Washington.

The right-wing spiral of Germany’s anti-EU Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) has brought it shoulder to shoulder with France’s National Front (NF). The two parties see eye-to-eye on a number of issues, including Russia. 

The Swedish government has decided to reintroduce military conscription - a move backed by the country's MPs. Why is this happening? And how will it work? How does it impact regional security? And which other European countries have conscription?

3 questions to Mark GALEOTTI, Senior Researcher at the Institute of International Relations Prague, Director of Mayak Intelligence consultancy.

Angela Merkel loosing the elections in Germany could be one of the many electoral suprises in 2017. Surveys on voting intentions for the legislative elections in September show that her opponent Martin Schulz (social-democrat) has started overtaking her.

Russia watchers say Moscow is deploying considerable resources to swing the French election.

On Germanys second channel, ZDF, Barbara Kunz enlarges upon the French presidential election in May.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first foreign leader to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump after his election. On Friday, Feb. 10, he will meet with President Trump, before spending the weekend at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

Martin Schulz will be the SPDs candidate for the general elections in 2017, facing the CDUs Angela Merkel. Could his arrival threaten the Chancellor and reinvigorate a rather dull looking SPD?

A closer look at China’s vision for remaking Asian security, and what the United States can do about it. In October, China hosted the seventh Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, during which Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin outlined a framework for a regional security architecture to meet the emerging challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. 

The leaders of the extreme right-wing AfD party, Alternative for Germany, intend to take advantage of the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin to challenge the German Chancellors welcoming policy : 1 million refugees arrived between 2015 and 2016, they argue that in welcoming them, she imported violence.

What political future for the German Chancellor Angela Merkel after a year characterised by the New Years incident in Cologne and the attack in Berlin?

A year after the landmark COP21 climate discussions, the ambitious Paris Agreement entered into force just before COP22 began in Marrakech, Marrocco. With this latest round of talks new over, Carole Mathieu of Ifri debriefs Nuclear Report on what happened in Marrakech, the importance of the decarbonization agenda, and on the silent place nuclear energy occupies at the UNIFCCC negociations.

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Turkey is looking to revive a fragile ceasefire in Aleppo, and the planned evacuation of civilians, which brokered with Russia. But why is Ankara, a staunch opponent of Damascus, interested in helping to create an outcome that would benefit President Assad? Amanda Morrow put the question to Dorothée Schmid, head of the Turkish studies programme at the French Institute of International Relations.