France’s State of Emergency and Challenges for the Radical Left

“All the way to the right," the slogan that best defines the current policy of the French government–and more broadly of the entire political spectrum. The government has cynically made use of the November 13 Paris attacks to push its “state of emergency” to the limit, yet it is now facing the first expressions of resistance. This situation presents the far left with the challenges of building a broad, united opposition movement, as well as an independent political alternative to both the government and the reformist left.