Table of Contents
The French riots are the epitome of two establishment failures: the non-assimilation of an immigrant population and the rise of Islamo-leftism: an ideological convergence between Islamist movements and a radical left united in their opposition to Western civilization.
The radical left opposes Western culture, capitalism, and established power structures, while Islamic movements reject secular liberal values, seeking a greater role for themselves in politics.
Despite their ideological differences, both can find common ground in their opposition to the West. Parts of the left increasingly portray immigrant communities as an “oppressed proletariat” to mobilize for their political cause. Islamists also see this alliance as a means to an end. Islamists can pursue their interests by siding with the left, without ever having to win power.
It is not the first time these two movements have been able to find common ground. In the 1979 Iranian revolution, Islamists and left-wing groups united in their opposition to the Shah. Some leftists supported Khomeini, seeing his movement as a force opposing Western imperialism. Only later did the new Islamic regime turn on its former allies. A similar effort took place in the 1980s, the Afghani communist regime appealed to both Islamic socialism and to revolutionary Iran’s hostility to American imperialism.
The rise of this political alliance cannot be understood apart from France’s fiscal crisis. Its last balanced budget was in 1974. Today, public debt stands at around 115% of GDP and the deficit exceeds 5%. Yet the public continues to demand more from a state it refuses to pay more to sustain. As Frédéric Bastiat put it, the state is “the great fiction through which everyone endeavors to live at the expense of everyone else.”
LFI (La France Insoumise, “France Unbowed”) is transforming social unrest into a political opportunity. The party hopes to harness the popular rage to mobilise support for the radical left by calling for the shutdown of schools and presenting the protests as a historic student movement. French intelligence assessments showed the blockades were organized by LFI and its far-left allies. Mélenchon described it as the biggest student movement since May 1968, with LFI lawmakers appearing at school gates and calling for the blockades to spread. Even the LFI mayor of Saint-Denis suggested that at a certain point, violence could be legitimate.
And the ideological picture is even more revealing when we look at the causes being promoted alongside the original demands. The first protests began with demands for more money for education, even though France already spends around 5.7% of its GDP on education, compared to the EU average of around 4.7%.
What is even more bizarre, though, is how protests over education turn into squares filled with Palestinian, Moroccan and Algerian flags. If second- and third-generation immigrants demonstrators wave flags other than the French tricolor, the question arises whether they identify first and foremost with France or with their countries of origin. Are they really fighting for the good of France and its people?
Such questions of identity and belonging are especially poignant in the banlieues on the outskirts of Paris. Nearly 44% of residents live below the poverty line, compared with 13% nationwide, while unemployment and recorded violence are higher and educational attainment lower. In these neighborhoods, residents live on the margins of France, in a parallel society within the republic. They epitomize the failure of assimilation and make clear that French citizenship doesn't necessarily equate to Frenchness. You can grow up in France and have absolutely no sense of connection to the values of the country.
Assimilation means accepting the country's fundamental values and identifying with its national community, regardless of where you or your parents were born. A cultural chasm separates the values of French society from those of communities that have failed to integrate into it. It concerns fundamental questions about religion, free speech, secular government, and the equality of men and women. If immigrants are unwilling to assimilate, integration becomes impossible. The gradual erosion of its society is an existential threat to the nation built upon it.
Macron, like too many Western leaders, has proved unable to rise to the challenge. He has failed to restore public confidence in the state's ability to maintain order. It’s impressive that since Macron took office in May 2017, France has experienced at least three major waves of unrest before the current October 2026 episode. And above all, he has been reluctant to confront the cultural dimension of the crisis directly.
The contradictions of the radical left are most exposed when its revolutionary aspirations come into conflict with the principles it professes to uphold. Bettina Zourli, a feminist activist and LFI supporter, described as “collateral damage” a rape threat allegedly made against a mother who tried to stop looters during the protests.
The deculturation and collective metaphysical atrophy of France are rapidly accelerating. Europeans aren't yet aware they are regressing. When inevitably they realize they are, will they be able to reverse the political inertia?
