When they go to the polls on Sunday, voters in France will be faced with the same two presidential candidates as 2017: Emmanuel Macron, the president and a polished centrist, and Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally party.

Yet the context is different. There is a war in Europe, and the contest is tight.

What are the stakes in the runoff election, and how has the race become so close?

Guest: Roger Cohen, Paris bureau chief for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• President Emmanuel Macron will face Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader, in the runoff on Sunday. The outcome will be crucial for France and reverberate globally.
• No French president has been the object of such intense dislike among significant segments of the population as Mr. Macron. How deep that loathing runs will be a critical factor in the election.

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