Hollande Announces Measures to Increase France’s Economic Outlook

President Francois Hollande presented a fresh fiscal outlook for the struggling French economy to 30 or more international business executives on 17 February. The meeting included representatives from corporate staples such as Volvo, Intel and Nestle, in addition to financial chiefs from China and various Gulf nations. France, the European Union’s second-largest economy, has experienced […]

Hollande’s Visit Emphasizes Unity between France and US

French President François Hollande travelled to the United States last week for an official State visit at the invitation of President Barack Obama, aiming to symbolize the renewal of French-American relations. Such a visit had not occurred since Former French President Jacques Chirac visited Bill Clinton in 1996. Hollande and Obama published a co-written article […]

Hollande in Holland

By Sarah Brown President Francois Hollande’s trip to the Netherlands last Monday marked the first time a French president has made an official visit to the country in 14 years. It was Hollande in Holland — his first trip abroad since a Jan. 14 press conference at the Elysée, when he announced significant economic changes […]

LJP Youth: Hollande’s Love Affair Inspires a Video Game

Maria Makarova is part of a new initiative called LJP Youth. The LJP team has partnered with the Bilingual School of Marcq-en-Baroeul, a high school in Lille, France, to create a space for young, aspiring journalists to comment on the world around them. We hope you enjoy what they have to say.  Everyone has been following the developments […]

2014: New Deal for President Hollande

What a first couple of weeks! After a disastrous fall, President Hollande decided to take a huge initiative in a master political maneuver – one that some analysts have already dubbed the launch of the President’s re-election campaign. It is possible to say, without exaggerating, that January was the month when Hollande decided to make […]

Is France as Unprepared for the Future as We Think?

From the Roman writers of old to Tony Soprano’s anxious musings in the pilot episode of The Sopranos, navel-gazing is as old as Western civilization itself. Even now, American students who take French long enough will inevitably be asked to write a response to the following prompt: “Les Etats-Unis sont-ils en déclin? Repondez avec des […]

Unemployment in France Spikes at End of Year

The rate of unemployment in France rose 0.5% in November, reversing a six-month trend in declining unemployment, a positive trend which continues to be referenced by President François Hollande as the fiscal year draws to a close. A monthly data report released by Pôle Emploi (a French government agency focused on unemployment) on December 26 […]

Algeria Unamused by Hollande’s Terrorism Joke

François Hollande may like a good knee-slapper, but Algeria is not laughing along with him. The French president, whose popularity is already historically low, irritated many in Algeria when he quipped that Interior Minister Manuel Valls had returned from a trip to the North African country “safe and sound … which is itself quite a […]

Downgrade Sparks Criticism from Government and Rating Agency

On November 8, for the second time in less than two years, Standard & Poor’s downgraded France’s sovereign debt rating to “AA with a stable outlook,” according to the agency’s report. France’s rating was last downgraded in January of 2012 from AAA to AA+, when Nicolas Sarkozy was still leading the country. The rating agency’s […]

Xenophobia Continues to be Pervading Problem in France

Xenophobia and anti-Islamic sentiment have been on the rise in Europe, and France is no stranger to this trend. Racism in public discourse has become especially conspicuous in recent years.  In the political arena, politicians are no strangers to dealing with xenophobia. This turmoil can be attributed in part to the influx of immigrants from […]