Populists under pressure

摘要

Look back a year, and remember how disquieting European politics seemed. Matteo Salvini, by far the most popular politician in Italy, and France's equally xenophobic Marine Le Pen had just teamed up with Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's former strategist, as part of what Mr Bannon called The Movement. This alliance of nativist parties of the right, soon to acquire a "gladiator school" based in a monastery near Rome, intended to sweep the forthcoming European elections and tilt the continent's politics firmly away from the liberal centre ground. They had their difficulties, of course. The Eurosceptic and anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) decided to steer clear of Mr Bannon, and other right-wingers were wary too. But, with or without the American Svengali, populists seemed in the ascendant. In France the gi-lets jaunes (yellow jackets), who drew support from the radical right and left, were about to explode onto the streets.