France and the US both regard themselves as exceptional nations. But their history has often followed a similar pattern. The American revolution of 1775-83 was swiftly followed by the French revolution of 1789 — leading some historians to talk of the late 18th century as the period of the “Atlantic revolutions”.
Will future historians one day be writing about the “Atlantic counter-revolutions” of the early 21st century? It could happen if the election of Donald Trump as president of the US last November is followed by the election of Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, as president of France this May.
The Trump and Le Pen movements share many ideas — hostility to Islam, nationalism, populism, protectionism, support for Brexit, sympathy for Russia and hatred of the mainstream media. Both leaders want to turn the clock back to a more conservative era, before globalisation and multiculturalism, by staging a counter-revolution against the hated “liberal establishment”.