Mainstream parties would do better to address the extremists head on. Instead of stoking anti-Muslim sentiment by claiming, as Germany’s interior minister has, that Islam has no place in a country, explain the importance of integrating minorities. Instead of demonising the Greeks, spell out the arguments for keeping the euro together. Instead of hinting that governments can hold globalisation at bay, explain its benefits and the costs of resisting it. That may sound Panglossian, but it is better than raising voters’ expectations only to dash them later. That’s what Mr. Sarkozy did in 2008 when he pledged to keep a steel plant from shifting production abroad. The jobs went anyway. Little wonder if voters flock to parties that seem to offer a more robust bulwark against painful change.
— Europe’s Far Right: Pause and Engage
