Geopolitics #47 - France Election Results - 7/8/2024

The week in geopolitics. France Election Results. Our editors' selections from Le Monde, Hudson Institute, Asharq Al-Awsat, Jamestown Foundation, Foreign Policy Research Institute, and others.

🇫🇷 FRANCE ELECTION RESULTS 🇫🇷

Main results and takeaways:

1- Rassemblement National (far-right) comes third and falls short, even of lowered expectations. Seat count estimated at 142 (vs. 289 needed for a majority in the 577-seat Assemblée Nationale).

2- Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP), the last-minute coalition of the left, far-left and greens comes first, better than expected. Seat count 187.

3- Ensemble, president Macron’s party, comes second with a seat count of 159. This is weaker than Macron’s support in the previous Assemblée but better than expected a week ago, or a month ago.

4- Although the leader of NFP, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, interpreted the result as a personal coronation, NFP was a coalition of convenience hastily assembled for this election. It is fragmented and marred by internal contradictions. La France Insoumise (LFI), Mélenchon’s party, will only have 71 seats (out of NFP’s 187). The Parti Socialiste, also part of NFP and closer to the center, will have 64 seats.

5- The m…