Bill Mitchell — Front National – seems confused on its monetary proposals

Please do not interpret in what follows any hint of support for FN from this blog other than as a ‘cat among the pigeons’ force in European politics, anything that upsets the right-wing, neo-liberal, corporatist elites that run the show is to be welcome.…

FN’s policy proposals are outlined in its – 144 Engagements Présidentiels (144-point manifesto).

The opening statements talk about regaining France’s freedom and mastery over their own destiny (“Retrouver notre liberté et la maîtrise de notre destin en restituant au peuple français” and defines sovereignty in terms of “monétaire, législative, territoriale, économique”, which would suggest a return to its own currency.

Critics seem to characterise those who advocate a return to national currency sovereignty as ‘small vision’ as opposed to the European Union which is claimed to be ‘big’.  It is big on corporatism and anti-democratic bullying and certainly big on the unemployment it has created.

My view is that a return to national currency sovereignty, that is exiting the Eurozone and floating one’s currency is a grand vision for full employment and reduced inequality.

Of course, the neo-liberals can take control of a nation that is sovereign in its own currency (as in Australia or the UK at present) and use the capacity that currency independence brings to bad effect.

But a truly progressive government cannot really exist in the Eurozone or in a nation that pegs its currency or accepts legal dictates from an undemocratic bloc (such as the EU)....

Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Front National – seems confused on its monetary proposals
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Jacques Sapir — Shock and Awe

The rise of Marine LePen and the National Front (FN).

It’s the unemployment, stupid

This success is obviously linked to the deep and long economic crisis France has been suffering for years. Unemployment has reached unheard levels, with officially more than 3,6 millions of people and actually probably over 4,5 millions.…

RussEurope » In English
Shock and Awe
Jacques Sapir

Remi Piet — Marine Le Pen's victory is a bigger threat than ISIL

For the first time, the extreme-right National Front (FN) party has claimed victory in a national election in France. The first round of the regional elections has left Marine Le Pen's movement as the leading political force in French politics, ahead of the traditional socialist and republican parties.

Qatar freaking over the prospect of a Le Pen victory? Well, they aren't alone. That would be a game-changer.

(Al Jazeera is a Qatari outfit and the article is by a Qatari professor.)

Of course, like everything else wrong with the world, it's all Putin's fault. (He must possesses supernatural powers — read be a front man for Satan.)

The financial sacrifice resulting from the absence of members of parliament and electoral victories - political parties in France receive public funds on the basis of the number of elected members - was swiftly alleviated when the party reportedly received loans from Russian banks earlier this year.

This opportunistic support from Russia raises serious questions about the movement's independence and its vassalage to Russian President Vladimir Putin.…

Then he waxes all liberal.

No doubt, the November 13 attacks in Paris have played a part in the National Front victory. The terrorist actions from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have been an opportunity for Le Pen to target Muslim minorities and scapegoat a community that is mostly peaceful and respectful of the French Republican values of Freedom, Equality and Solidarity. This is in no way a coincidence.

He doesn't conveniently omits saying that Qatar is not only an Islamist state but also Wahhab-Salafist like Saudi Arabia, and one of places from which support allegedly flows to Sunni fundamentalist jihadis.

While France is ailing and still mourns the attacks against its multicultural society, the Nationa Frontl's victory on Sunday, in the same vein as ISIL terrorist attacks, is another step towards communitarianism and the defeat of a secular and progressive model inherited from the Enlightenment and the philosophical triumph of reason.

This is exactly what Wahhabi-Salafist states like Qatar and Saudi Arabia not only oppose but criminalize.

More hypocrisy.

Then he gets to the point.

Those who prefer favouring short-term electoral interests, such as Nicolas Sarkozy, are the favourite allies of anti-republican forces.

Nicholas Sarkozy — that would be the president of France who engineered the debacle in Libya while in office.

Oh, and it turns out that he wrote a similar op-ed about a year ago.

A defining moment for the French right (15 Jan 2015)
Al Jazeera
Marine Le Pen's victory is a bigger threat than ISIL

Remi Piet | assistant professor of public policy, diplomacy and international political economy at Qatar University

Nick Robins-Early — A Field Guide To Europe's Radical Right Political Parties

From Greece and France to Sweden and Denmark, Europe's far-right parties have taken the spotlight in recent months. Trading on sometimes vitriolic anti-euro, anti-immigrant sentiment, as well as renewed security fears, parties of the far-right have taken the center stage in protests and elections. 

These parties have not emerged overnight. In fact, many have lingered on the fringe of Europe's political landscape for decades. The WorldPost presents a guide to some of the most prominent radical right parties active in Europe today.

You can't tell the players without a scorecard, Huffington Post version.

The World Post
A Field Guide To Europe's Radical Right Political Parties
Nick Robins-Early | The Huffington Post