I’ve been to France multiple times, but thank you for assuming. Really gives credibility to the opening of your comment.

The essay was primarily focused on extremism in the U.S. and I cited multiple pieces of evidence to support my thesis, if you read the entire piece.

You mentioned Trump. Despite his massive flaws and dangers, he’s running against someone in Biden who barely has a pulse. Yet Trump still isn’t breaking free with landslide gains in the polls, which would happen if he was any other - less extreme - candidate. If he does beat Biden, which I still think is unlikely in a general election (despite the polls), it will be far less about Trump winning and more about Biden and the Dems beating themselves.

In terms of Europe, it’s true that far right parties are making gains. Although it’s not one-to-one with America - the modern “far right” in Europe is more like right of center in the states, but that’s another discussion.

So much of what happens in Europe, India, Russia, etc will depend on the U.S. election. If Trump does win, the world will be demonstrably different than it is today, giving more air for extremism to breathe, at which point I would revise my thesis (hence why it was so focused on the U.S.).

But even after Biden’s disastrous debate, I still don’t think Trump prevails for many of the reasons I cited in the essay.