The challenges facing Europe have not vanished

There has probably been more than enough said about the French election. Suffice it to say that it is good news that the French electorate voted against a far-right presidential candidate, but it is concerning that a third of the vote still managed to go the way of that candidate.

Any honest assessment must recognise those two crucial points. But there is a larger question involved here. Against the backdrop of the rise of the populist far-right, what has happened to the genuine alternatives? Or, to put it another way: where, indeed, have all the good men and women gone?

The opening of the article. The full text is at The National.