There is an argument that outbreaks of destructive protest are a traditional hallmark of French civilization rather than a contradiction of it. But this week’s high school protests, with fires set at schools across the country and social media videos showing a female police officer chased down by youths and kicked on the ground, a gray-haired professor beaten for trying to stop acts of arson and a woman burned in the face with an impromptu flamethrower do not make for a good look. At a time that an indignant Europe has pushed back against warnings from President Donald Trump that the continent faces “civilizational erasure” because of mass immigration and unsupportable welfare states, the images from a country aspiring to European leadership do not make a strong case for the defense.
The violence comes at a time that Europe is trying to demonstrate to Russia that it is serious about challenging its threat. The continent’s industry is being hammered by a far more competitive China and the Iran war’s impact on energy prices. Meanwhile, Europe aspires to retain a voice in shaping everything from what happens in the Middle East to the fate of artificial intelligence as U.S. and Chinese firms leap ahead.
In this context, the student riots in France are not only another round of gleeful violence from a generation coming of age. They also show the challenge facing a state, and continent, being stretched to the limits. The protests over school conditions, long hours and teachers (who won’t do what they are told) have also deepened political polarization.
Among those out encouraging the students have been officials of the leftist La France Insoumise of presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has called the government response repressive. That has in turn drawn the predictable anger of Marine Le Pen and her anti-immigrant National Rally party. Openly supported by Trump, she is favorite to win next year’s presidential election when Emmanuel Macron has to step down after two terms (although her chances may actually be better against Mélenchon than if she faces a centrist in a likely second round).
The riots have again brought immigration to the fore of the debate with many students of African and Arab origin among the protesters. But there are plenty of white French students protesting too. As French birth rates have fallen, there are simply a higher proportion of students of immigrant origin.
Perhaps the biggest problem for France is that the riots are not its biggest problem. At a time that borrowing costs have been rising around the world, France’s have been growing even faster than those of its peers. It’s debt to GDP ratio is already nearly 120 percent and proposed budget cuts and tax rises have not made much of a difference to skeptical bond markets.
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