French election, far right and crisis in Spain

The far right in Europe has been able to take advantage of the economic crisis to a certain extent, but this has not necessarily led to electoral success, and it seems unlikely that Marine Le Pen will repeat her father's feat of 2002, getting into the second round of the French presidential election: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/04/12/uk-eurozone-populism-idUKBRE83B0UD20120412

As the trial of Ander's Breivik starts this week, there are concerns over the spread of anti-Muslim organizations as described in this article from the UK Guardian:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/14/breivik-trial-norway-mass-murderer

A year ago January I hosted a conference on this topic at UT Austin:  http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/european_studies/conferences%20and%20workshops/Past-Conferences-and-Workshops/Transatlantic%20Intolerance.php
The panelists examined the development of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups in the U.S. and Europe in particular, and looking at linkages being made between them.  Politicians like Geert Wilders in the Netherlands has pushed for the development of a transnational organization to fight the spread of Islam. Clearly this is an ongoing concern, as highlighted in the report by the organization "Hope not Hate" mentioned in the Guardian article that examines "counter-jihad" organizations http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/counter-jihad/

This headline from the UK Telegraph says it all..."France elections 2012: Nicolas Sarkozy declared most unpopular president in history" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nicolas-sarkozy/9205652/France-elections-2012-Nicolas-Sarkozy-declared-most-unpopular-president-in-history.html

Photo: AFP/Getty
Meanwhile the crisis in Spain is on the minds of commentators like Paul Krugman: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/insane-in-spain/?smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&seid=auto
And George Soros explains the background for the crisis in Europe: http://www.businessinsider.com/george-soros-on-the-eurozone-crisis-2012-4
and I had to add this editorial from Paul Krugman for Monday's Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/opinion/krugman-europes-economic-suicide.html?_r=1&smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&seid=auto
...and Nouriel Roubini's http://www.slate.com/articles/business/project_syndicate/2012/04/the_eurozone_problem_s_will_get_worse_unless_they_adopt_a_growth_strategy_.single.html

This is too much for one day, but will be useful for my class - A nice report from the Economist on Germany's economic model: http://www.economist.com/node/21552567