Schmidt Interviewed on French Presidential Election
Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Professor of International Relations and Political Science at the Pardee School, was interviewed by South African news channel SABC on the French elections to be held on April 24, 2022.
In her remarks, Schmidt discusses what a Marine Le Pen presidency would look like and addressed questions focused on what she would do in France and in Europe as well as the implications for the rest of the globe, Africa in particular. She emphasized that it would be a disaster all around – for France in terms of civil rights, Europe in terms of joint responses to crises, and Africa in terms of an even greater hardening of immigration policy – if Le Pen were to win. While Emmanuel Macron did win reelection Sunday nights, the ideals Le Pen ran on are still embedded in French political discourse.
Schmidt’s full SABC interview can be viewed below.
Vivien Schmidt is a Professor of International Relations and Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and was the first Director of BU’s Center for the Study of Europe, housed at the Pardee School. Schmidt’s research focuses on European political economy, institutions, democracy, and political theory—in particular on the importance of ideas and discourse in political analysis. Read more about Professor Schmidt on her faculty profile.