Tag: France

R&D from Prepd: Francois Hollande’s Unpopularity

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

This R&D provides resources on French President Francois Hollande’s unpopularity.  Hollande boasts some of the worst approval ratings in the world at the moment, with only 4% of the French public agreeing with his actions.  It is unlikely that Hollande will be re-elected next year or even nominated for another term by the Socialist Party, especially after Hollande criticized the French soccer team, insulted his own ministers, and admitted to ordering targeted killings in a recent book.

R&D from Prepd: French Burkini Bans

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

This R&D provides resources on French areas banning women from wearing a burkini, which is a burqa version of a swimsuit.  Although some fashion companies are attempting to offer Islamic-friendly swimwear, some French communities have banned the dress, arguing that it is a religious symbol that violates the country’s secular norms.  Opponents of the bans say that they are unnecessarily discriminatory.

France and Islamic Extremism

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Two weeks ago on January 7, two gunmen stormed into the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical French magazine, and proceeded to kill eleven people and a police officer.  The gunmen, Cherif and Said Kouachi, were French citizens with Islamic beliefs and their grievance against Charlie Hebdo was the magazine’s cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, who cannot be depicted per the tenets of the Islam.  Over the next two days, French police tracked down and killed the Kouachi brothers, while one of their accomplices, Amedy Coulibaly was killed after taking a kosher supermarket hostage.  Coulibaly killed four hostages and one policewoman before being neutralized.  The string of attacks shocked the French public, with many seeing the attack on Charlie Hebdo as an assault on the country’s traditions of freedom of speech and expression.  On January 11, an estimated 1.3 million people went into the streets of Paris to march against the violence, which included more than forty heads of state.  The attacks have presented President Francois Hollande with an opportunity to bolster his reputation among French voters, which has eroded over the last year due to a sluggish economy.  However, the attacks may serve to galvanize support for the French far-right, namely the National Front (FN), which has argued for immigration controls and against what they deem as the “Islamization” of France.

This topic brief will cover the status of France’s Muslim population, discuss the French government’s response and that of its international allies to the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and assess how the attacks may affect French politics before 2017 when the country will hold its next presidential election.

Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.

R&D: France and Islamic Extremism

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Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany today’s premium topic brief on France and Islamic extremism.

R&D from Prepd: Francois Hollande’s Political Maneuvers

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

This R&D provides articles and resources on French President Francois Hollande’s reaction to recent local elections.  After his Socialist Party suffered defeats at the hands of the right-wing National Front and conservative UMP, Hollande has replaced the country’s prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, and brought in the mother of his four children, Segolene Royal, as minister of the environment and energy.  Hollande’s approval ratings have fallen due to his failures to revive the French economy and lower the country’s 11% unemployment rate.

 

R&D by Prepd: Nicolas Sarkozy’s Political Comeback

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

These resources provide information on the possibility that former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will make a political comeback.  Sarkozy won the 2007 French presidential election, but was defeated by current French President Francois Hollande last year.  Problems with the French economy and existing immigration laws may provide an opportunity for Sarkozy to challenge Hollande in the next French presidential election, not due until 2017.

Topic Brief: French Pension Reform

by Logan Scisco

In the United States, the Democratic Party is attempting to paint the Republican Party as mean spirited and warning voters that if the Republicans take control of Congress this November they will privatize Social Security. This tactic is meant to rally elderly voters, who vote more than any other group, to the polls on Election Day. Social Security is referred to as the third rail in American politics because it is such a deadly issue for politicians to confront. However, all experts agree that without changes in its structure, Social Security and America’s dreams of a government pension in old age are likely to go the way of the dodo.

Like the United States, government pensions were seen by European nations and their citizenry as sacred trusts whereby the government would provide for elderly citizens in their old age. Politicians who dared question the sustainability and cost of these pension programs were seen as anti-elderly and insensitive. However, rising budget deficits and crushing national debt burdens have finally forced European nations to deal with their aging populations. Some, like Great Britain, are confronting the problem voluntarily while others like Greece have been forced to reform their generous pension systems.

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