The long goodbye.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Image courtesy Ikon Images / Alamy Stock Photo)

The results from the first round of France's presidential election are likely to be over-interpreted as a reprieve for the European Union. The pro-Europe candidate Emmanuel Macron won nearly one-fourth of the vote, with the anti-EU Marine Le Pen nipping at his heels. Macron is now the favorite to beat the far-right Le Pen in the run-off, as establishment political actors and institutions are sure to coalesce around the banker and ex-socialist to topple Le Pen and rebuff her promises of a Frexit.

And so, the increasingly internationalist political class breathes a sigh of relief. Finally, after populist uprisings in Britain and America, the great political project of our time has been vindicated.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is the founder and editor of The Slurve, a newsletter about baseball. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Slate and The American Conservative.