James McAuley

Paris

Global Opinions contributing columnist focusing on French and European politics and culture

Education: University of Oxford, DPhil in history; Harvard University, BA in history and literature

James McAuley, a Global Opinions contributing columnist, is a former Paris correspondent for The Washington Post. He holds a PhD in French history from the University of Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar.
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Latest from James McAuley

France cynically targets Muslim women — again

An interview on France’s latest crackdown on Muslim women in public life.

October 9, 2023
France's education minister, Gabriel Attal, at a news conference in Paris on Oct. 5.

Macron remade French politics. Now he’s paying the price.

Macron has remade the French political system. But the inevitable price he paid is that now he is the one against whom others rebel.

June 20, 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday.

New U.S. antisemitism envoy takes on Putin’s distortions about Ukraine

Deborah Lipstadt says a strong U.S. response is necessary to counter Russian leader's manipulation of the Holocaust narrative.

May 11, 2022
Deborah Lipstadt during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 8. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Voters disappointed by Macron still backed him. Now he owes them.

Even if the far right was soundly defeated, there is still something deeply unsettling about the final result.

April 24, 2022
Supporters of French President Emmanuel Macron celebrate reports of his victory on Sunday in Paris. (Lewis Joly/AP)

Four unsettling takeaways from the French election’s first-round results

The results show an incumbent president, Emmanuel Macron, who performed better than initially expected but nowhere near as well as he should have.

April 11, 2022
Vote projections for President Emmanuel Macron and presidential challenger Marine Le Pen are broadcast on a screen at an election night event for Le Pen in Paris on April 10. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Bloomberg News)

Putin’s ‘denazification’ claims and the self-serving manipulation of history

The Holocaust has been manipulated in so many ways that it has now become a perverse excuse for enacting delusional fantasies.

February 28, 2022
Days before taking office in 2019, then-Ukraine President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky shared this photo on Facebook of him visiting the grave of his Jewish grandfather, who fought the Nazis in World War II. (Facebook/Volodymyr Zelensky)

The Texas synagogue hostage situation reminds us that we must prioritize combating antisemitism

With antisemitism on the rise, Republicans must signal their repudiation by confirming Biden’s special envoy.

January 16, 2022
A police vehicle sits outside of the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Tex., on Jan. 16. (Andy Jacobsohn/AFP/Getty Images)

Macron is right: It’s time to make life a living hell for anti-vaxxers

Macron has set a fine example for other world leaders to follow in refusing to kowtow before ignorance or honor selfishness.

January 11, 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron in Tende, France, on Jan. 10. (Daniel Cole/AFP)

The threat of Trumpian tragedy looms over France

Zemmour, like Trump, always knows exactly what to say to elicit the most outrage and, therefore, attention.

October 26, 2021
Eric Zemmour gestures as he talks during a meeting to promote his latest book in Versailles, west of Paris, on Oct. 19.

France’s justifiable anger over the submarine deal should prompt a reckoning

After a week of histrionics, the waters seem to have calmed.

September 23, 2021
President Biden speaks with French President Emmanuel Macron at a NATO gathering in Brussels on June 14. (Brendan Smialowski/AP)