The French still enjoy a comparably solid social safety net. Looking closely at Emmanuel Macron's victory, it was this welfare state that helped him get reelected. And it makes the upcoming pension reform all the more challenging.

The price of French President Emmanuel Macron’s likely historic electoral success will be the uncertainty about what follows when he leaves the scene in five years.

The French president’s speech last week drew much undeserved criticism. In the Ukraine crisis, Paris may be Washington's most demanding partner, but it is also proving to be its most reliable one. 

Unlike 2017, the upcoming presidential election won’t be about whether France should remain in the EU. But it might turn into a debate about what France should do within it.