The revenant
Given up for politically dead, France’s former president is back in the race
WHEN Nicolas Sarkozy failed in his bid for re-election as president in 2012, the French thought they had seen the back of him. He vowed to retire from public life. But the promise never rang entirely true. Sure enough, this week the Sarko tornado began once again to tear its way through France: the Gaullist former president declared that he would seek his party’s nomination at a primary in November. For now, Mr Sarkozy trails his rivals for the post. But it is almost always a mistake to underestimate the pugnacious ex-president.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The revenant”
From the August 27th 2016 edition
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Ursula von der Leyen has a new doctrine for handling the hard right
The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term
Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
The maths of Europe’s military black hole
It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare
A rise in antisemitism puts Europe’s liberal values to the test
The return of Europe’s oldest scourge