Exclusive extracts chosen by Jean-Christophe Buisson
The Conservatives' ephemeral victory (2014-2017)
The "debate on national identity", launched in 2009 by Nicolas Sarkozy, sparked an outburst of the intelligentsia.
Tribunes and petitions multiplied in the newspapers.
The members of the government themselves, some of whom like Bernard Kouchner came from the ranks of the left, were embarrassed.
Launched by a “consultation” on the internet, the debate ended in fiasco, marking a victory for the progressive camp in the battle of ideas.
Politics fizzled out, but a taboo was lifted.
To read also:
"What is national identity today?"
By reintegrating Catholics into the dominant political discourse (by evoking for example
"the Christian heritage of France"
during the speech in Puy-en-Velay in 2011), whereas they had been relegated to the margins and had condemned themselves to landfill;
by tackling issues such as Islam, secularism and multiculturalism head-on;
by making national identity a central theme of public debate, Nicolas Sarkozy had
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