Immigrants and Politics Blog

“The integration of alienated, second-generation immigrant youths into mainstream French society is one of the thorniest problems facing French politics today, and Mr. Sarkozy, as interior minister, tackled the problem head-on with a directness more typical of an American politician than a French one.

But his Giuliani-inspired zero-tolerance anticrime campaign, his frank, sometimes imprudent talk (tailored to attract far-right voters during an earlier stage of his campaign) and his combative style have turned him into an enemy for many young minorities. Fear that a President Sarkozy would bring five years of heightened tension and violence is an emotion operating at the core of the presidential campaign.”

Full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/05/world/europe/05france.html