May 8 in the Shadow of the New Wars

Under the Arc de Triomphe, the flame burns as it does every year. Trumpets sound short, sharp notes into the evening sky of Paris, uniforms shine in the last light, flags flutter in the wind. France masters this choreography of remembrance almost perfectly. May 8th has long been part of the established republican ritual — reliable, dignified, almost timeless. And yet something else hangs over this day in 2026. A restlessness. You see it in the faces of the people standing at the edges of the ceremonies. In the past, ...