"Globalists" Can Be Protectionists Too

It is true that Macron claims that he wants to preserve globalization. He even declared that "protectionism is war, it's a lie." But he never challenged any specific protectionist policies such as the Common Agricultural Policy. He also argued that "we do not have to be a completely open continent: protectionism should not be confused with a necessary protection." In the same way that under democracy "war becomes simply a device to end war" as Henry Louis Mencken would have said, protectionism has become for Macron a device to end trade barriers. The EU, in the eyes of Macron, must use tariffs to end protectionism.