David A. Andelman, visiting scholar at the Center on National Security at Fordham Law, wrote an opinion piece for CNN about the future of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency in France.
From our apartment window across the Seine, we could see the smoke rising from the Champs-Élysées, where flames of the burning barricades mingled with the fumes of the tear gas grenades. The demonstrators, wearing the trademark yellow vests that gave their movement its name — the “gilets jaunes” — were prying paving stones from the avenue to hurl at the riot police, clad in black from head to toe, with gas masks and tall plastic shields.
Paris was burning. France was in revolt.
It was a sharp contrast to the vast popular wave that swept President Emmanuel Macron into office with a stunning 66% of the vote over his right-wing challenger Marine Le Pen 18 months ago and gave his newly formed party an overwhelming plurality of 300 seats.