SUNDAYS ELECTION MAY BE FRANCE'S LAST CHANCE TO SAVE ITSELF
St-Remy-de-Provence, France (CNN)Just days before French voters go to the polls, gunshots rang out on Thursday in Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees. It was another jarring reminder to French voters of the high stakes and confusing choices they face in a pivotal election -- one whose outcome has become impossible to predict.
At this moment, there are few details about the killing of a police officer in the heart of Paris, and the motive is unknown, although an ISIS statement claims the shooter was one of its fighters.
It came as the nation focused on the Sunday vote, which will be the first step in electing a new president, a decision that will have repercussions far beyond the shores of France. It will determine if the wave of nationalist populism sweeping across the globe will continue to reshape the international landscape. Or whether perhaps globalization -- a dominant political and economic ideology -- can survive and thrive in the 21st century.
With the motives of the Champs-Elysées gunman considered terror-related, the timing just three days before the first round of the french presidential elections and during a prime time TV "debate" between all 11 official candidates clearly suggests that extremists are seeking to influence the tone of the debate - and perhaps its outcome.
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