Control information, demonize the enemy, mention humanitarianism, obscure history and economic interests.
Nicolas Sarkozy
François Hollande's Socialist France
Masses of people thronged Place de la Bastille -- symbolically representative of the French revolution -- to cheer the electoral victory May 6 of French Socialist Party candidate François Hollande, over conservative incumbent President of the Republic Nicholas Sarkozy.
The joyful celebratory mood was a welcome change. Over a decade of grim employment news had brought a measure of despondency to the nation once noted for its "joie de vivre." On the campaign trail, Hollande was called the only happy person in a morose country.
Europe counts in French elections
The biggest smile, the night of the first round of the French presidential elections, belonged to Marine Le Pen, candidate of the extreme right Front National (FN) who obtained 17.9 per cent of the vote, a record for the party formerly led by her father.
The five principles driving war propaganda are in play in Libya
Mounting a military operation against a dictator like Muamar Gaddafi does not mean suspending critical analysis of what it means for western "allies" to attack Libyan targets from the air. Putting together an analysis of the attack entails looking beyond the wartime public relations campaigns of the French, British, American, and Canadian governments designed to get public opinion onside, and lull critical minds to sleep.
French Socialists renounce financial liberalization and prepare for election battle
Martine Aubrey, first secretary of the French Socialist Party (PS), told Le Monde in an interview published on March 3 that the global project of financial capitalism is broken and cannot be fixed.
This statement makes the French Socialists the first major political party in the G8 to renounce financial liberalization, and the autonomy of finance capital, as the main features of national and international economic policy.