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00:00EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AT A THINK TANK. YOU AND YOUR ORGANIZATION PUT OUT A FASCINATING REPORT ON POPULISM IN EUROPE. LET'S TALK ABOUT FRANCE SPECIFICALLY, WHAT TO YOU WAS THE KEY FINDING IN YOUR STUDY THAT SHOWED WHY POPULISM IS A GROWING APPEAL? >> I THINK THIS COMES OUT A BE PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES IN THE SOCIAL WORLD. ALL OF THESE COMFORTABLE -- COME FORWARD TO MAKE A POPULISM DEFEAT. THEY ARE REALLY A NATION UNDER SIEGE, ON SO MANY LEVELS. IT IS UNDER CULTURAL CRISIS, THERE IS CULTURAL STAGNATION. IT IS ALL COMING FORWARD TO CREATE THE RIGHT CONDITIONS. THE BIGGEST FINDING IS THE SITUATION IT IN FRONT -- AND FRANCE IS CRUCIAL. THERE IS THAT THEY ARE AN DISSONANCE, IT IS SOMETHING REALLY ALARMING. JOE: HOW MUCH, YOU SEE THERE ARE MULTIPLE CONDITIONS TO TAKE PLACE FOR THIS TO HAPPEN, CAN YOU QUANTIFY OR ESTIMATE HOW MUCH THIS IS SECURITY OR TERRORISM OR IS IT REALLY ALL OF THESE THINGS? WHAT RESONATES RIGHT NOW? >> IT HAS ALMOST ALL BEEN COMING TOGETHER AT ONCE, IT IS THE RIGHT CONDITIONS. THAT SAID, I THINK TERRORISM HAS BEEN A REAL GAME CHANGER FOR FRANCE. THAT HAS REALLY AMPLIFIED THE MOOD. YOU WILL SEE THIS FLOW INTO OTHER ASPECTS. PEOPLE ARE NOW FEELING TERRIFIED OF A TERROR THREAT. THEY ARE ALSO FEELING AND ATTITUDE THAT IMMIGRATION FROM THE OUTSIDE. IT IS IMPORTANT FROM A POLICY PERSPECTIVE THAT'S THERE IS THIS LENS OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LIVING UNDER THE FOR QUITE SOME TIME NOW. THERE IS PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR THAT. I THINK WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF THAT. JOE: ONE OF THE THINGS THAT REALLY STRUCK ME WAS THE ECONOMY COLLAPSE. WHETHER IT IS THE EU INSTITUTIONS OR THE GOVERNMENT. WE HAVE THE CHART, FRENCH PARLIAMENT AND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT HAS NO TRUST IN ANY OF THEM. IS THIS A FAIRLY NEW THING? ARE THEY ONE OF THE WORST COUNTRIES FOR THIS COLLAPSE? >> I THINK IN FRANCE, THEY HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF MISTRUST. THERE IS ALSO A SENSE OF A FRENCH MALAISEE. THERE IS ALWAYS A POTENTIAL MINDSET OF DECLINE. IT IS TO THE FRENCH CHARACTER TO SOME EXTENT. I THINK WHAT WE ARE SEEING RIGHT NOW IS HISTORIC LOW LEVELS IN THESE INSTITUTIONS. WHAT IS DIFFERENT FOR FRANCE IS THAT IN OTHER COUNTRIES THEY TEND TO TRUST THE EU MORE VERSUS THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. OR THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT VERSUS THE EU. IN FRANCE THEY ARE EQUALLY DISTRUSTFUL OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AND THE EU. THIS IS A REALLY CONCERNED. JOE: ONE OF THE CONCERNS ON THE NATIONAL FRONT, THE SUPPORT FOR POPULISM IS A LOT OF OLDER VOTERS, FRANCE SEEMS TO BE KNOWN FOR A HIGH DEGREE OF SUPPORT IN THE YOUNGER VOTERS. HOW DO YOU SWING THE PHENOMENON. >> MARINE LE PEN'S CONSTITUENTS ARE REALLY COBBLED TOGETHER FROM ALL ARTS OF THE COUNTRY AND ALL PARTS OF THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM. WE ARE EVEN SEEING SOME OF PUBLIC SERVICE WORKERS GOING ACROSS FOR HIM. WE ARE SEEING THE HARD LEFT AND THE HARD RIGHT, THAT REFLECTS THE PLATFORM. WITH BORDER CONTROL AND GEOPOLITICAL POLICY VERY MUCH TO THE HARD RIGHT. THAT IT IS TURNED TO THE DOMESTIC PLATFORM, SHE IS A NATIONALIST, SHE IS A PROTECTIONIST. WE ARE STARTING TO SEE THIS

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Why Populism Is Growing in France

Sophie Gaston, Demos head of international projects and external affairs, discusses the recent wave of populism in Europe with Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal on "What'd You Miss?" (Source: Bloomberg)

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