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Sign up todayThe Last President of Europe
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Learn moreA revelatory examination of the global impact of Emmanuel Macron's tumultuous presidency.
A political novice leading a brand new party, in 2017 Emmanuel Macron swept away traditional political forces and emerged as president of France. Almost immediately he realized his task was not only to modernize his country but to save the EU and a crumbling international order. From the decline of NATO, to Russian interference, to the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) protestors, Macron's term unfolded against a backdrop of social conflict, clashing ambitions, and resurgent big-power rivalries.
In The Last President of Europe, William Drozdiak tells with exclusive inside access the story of Macron's presidency and the political challenges the French leader continues to face. Macron has ridden a wild rollercoaster of success and failure: he has a unique relationship with Donald Trump, a close-up view of the decline of Angela Merkel, and is both the greatest beneficiary from, and victim of, the chaos of Brexit across the Channel. He is fighting his own populist insurrection in France at the same time as he is trying to defend a system of values that once represented the West but is now under assault from all sides. Together these challenges make Macron the most consequential French leader of modern times, and perhaps the last true champion of the European ideal.
William Drozdiak is a nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution's Center on the United States and Europe, and a senior advisor for Europe with McLarty Associates, an international strategic consultancy firm based in Washington, D.C. He is the author of Fractured Continent: Europe's Crises and the Fate of the West.
Drozdiak worked for two decades as a senior editor and foreign correspondent for the Washington Post. Before joining the Post, Drozdiak was the U.S. State Department correspondent for Time. He has written extensively about international relations for many other publications, including articles in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Newsweek, and The Financial Times. He divides his time between Europe and Washington, D.C.
Reviews
PRAISE FOR THE LAST PRESIDENT OF EUROPEโRonald Tiersky Professor of Political Science emeritus, Amherst College "An eye-opening account of world politics and how the globe's most consequential leaders deal with each other in private. Drozdiak explains in clear and compelling prose how and why Macron's last-ditch efforts are vital for citizens in the U. S. and elsewhere in the world."โJim Hoagland, Washington Post columnist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner "It is fascinating to read a portrait of this young and intelligent French President as seen through American eyes. Drozdiak demonstrates a sense of objectivity and a well-documented and informed knowledge of Macron's European passion. This is a very serious and complete work, yet written in clear and readable prose. The virtue and quality of Drozdiak's book lies in his shrewd analysis and judgement of Macron's presidency and his place among today's world leaders."โPhilippe Labro, best-selling French author, journalist and film director. "The Last President of Europe is the extraordinary story of the ambition of a young, audacious, inexperienced politician to transform not only his country, France, but also Europe, for the challenges of the 21st century and the new great power competition. In this riveting, well-informed book, William Drozdiak takes us to the heart of Emmanuel Macron's fight, through the hopes and failures, the bold vision and the disastrous mistakes. The violence of the Yellow Vests' revolt, Angela Merkel's quiet passivity, Donald Trump's rage and Vladimir Putin's disdain set the stage for an enlightening look into one of the most original political experiences of today's Europe."โSylvie Kauffmann, columnist and editorial director, Le Monde "An intimate portrait of the French president at a moment of European and global crisis, William Drozdiak's The Last President of Europe presents Emmanuel's Macron's visionary plan for a revived, cohesive and more independent Europe, capable of embodying western democratic values and liberty as China asserts itself and the United States retreats. Macron's plan is bold, and its viability uncertain, but its importance for humanity in the 21st century is unquestionable, as Drozdiak makes clear in this important book."โRoger Cohen, New York Times global affairs columnist Expand reviews