Why you can't crush populism

The great French diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand remarked about the Bourbons after the French Revolution that they had “learnt nothing and forgotten nothing”. We might say the same about the Western establishment’s more recent response to the rise of the populist Right. Donald Trump’s election victory in 2024 should have taught everyone that what has come to be known as “lawfare” — using legal processes to weaken political opponents — doesn’t work politically. But it seems few heeded the warning. Only last week, a similar attempt to bar Marine Le Pen from running in next year’s presidential elections failed after a French appeals court reduced the length of the ban. This is not the end of her legal battles, but it is certain now that she will be a candidate and her popularity remain