Mabel Berezin is an expert on French politics, professor of Sociology at Cornell University, and author of “Illiberal Politics in Neoliberal Times: Cultures, Security, and Populism in a New Europe.” She says that today’s horrific murders at the French satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, will have significant impacts on France’s political landscape.

Berezin says:

“With this event, the National Front’s Marine Le Pen became the front runner in the 2017 presidential elections. This event will reverberate throughout the very shaky European Union where nationalist parties of all stripes are warning of the dangers of too much immigration.

“Hebdo had received death threats in the past due to its constant critique of fundamentalisms of all stripes, and radical Islam was certainly one of its principal targets. The gunmen spoke fluent French, were well trained and shouted ‘Allahu akbar!’ Arabic for ‘God is great.’

“Public figures reacting to the tragedy, from Salmon Rushdie to Marine Le Pen, have defended the right to a free press as a core value of democracy. There is also the already emerging discussion that not all Muslims are radical. Most of the French know that — even Marine Le Pen knows that. Freedom of expression and toleration is too narrow a discussion of what this event portends. The murders in the historic Marais is the 21st century’s Sarajevo moment.

“Europe has been convulsing for the last few years. The sovereign debt crisis, high youth unemployment rates, the failure to come up with a just and reasonable refugee policy: All of these issues will crystalize around the event in Paris, whether they are directly related or not.

“The murders will not only help Marine Le Pen but will be a boon to nationalist parties throughout Europe. There will be no guns of August — just the silent assault of one nationalist electoral victory after another.”

Bio: http://www.soc.cornell.edu/faculty/berezin.html