Seguela, a man of a certain age, remains fascinated by youth and its impact.

The brand manager in

him can barely disguise his glee that Coca Cola, the drink of the young trendy, is 130 years old. You
can sense the excitement he felt on meeting the young Americans – not born when Seguela was
advising Mitterrand – who had developed Obama’s digital strategy and so helped deliver a mailing
list of 13m people. The focus on youth also dominates his analysis of the political consequences of
the economic crash whose impact runs through these pages, and offers some fascinating factoids –
half of all Europeans are over 50, whilst three quarters of Algerians are under 25. There are as
many people under 30 in China as in Russia, the US and Australia combined, and in India twice as
many as in China. That too is a powerful force of global change, and will have its impact on
Western politics of the future.

As to what it all means for the next French elections, I don’t know. But this book provides part of
the backdrop, economic and political. It should make interesting reading for anyone involved in
that campaign. Whilst clearly still of the view Sarkozy was and is the right choice for France,
(though the polls at the time of writing indicate he is in a minority) he throws out ideas and
challenges for right and left alike. As traditional lines are drawn, careful reading might provoke
candidates and parties to see that they should always be looking to the next new ideas, not merely
repackaging the last new, let alone the old.