This week on the podcast we focus on France and the domestic and foreign policy travails of the fifth republic and its president, Emmanuel Macron. At home, President Macron faces a wave of popular discontent, amid his plans to raise France’s pension age. We discuss how Macron’s decision to bypass the French parliament has impacted his ability to govern, as well as look at his wider standing within the country. Has this opened the door for the far-right in the next presidential election, and can France be governed?

We also look to the Indo-Pacific and discuss the reverberations of Marcon’s recent visit to China with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. We discuss the comments he made around the question of Taiwan, and what he was trying to achieve by saying them. The panel also discuss the widespread criticism Macron received and what they say about France’s wider foreign policy.

Joining Bronwen Maddox on the podcast this week are Simon Kuper, a writer and journalist with the Financial Times; Georgina Wright, formerly of Chatham House, but now the Director of the Europe program at the Institute Montaigne, and Antoine Bondaz, the Director of the Korea, and Taiwan programs at the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique.

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Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock. Sound by Abdul Boudiaf and Matthew Docherty.