Few saw Britain’s stunning rejection of the EU coming until it was staring them in the face. And now that the unthinkable has happened, similar upheavals are becoming all too thinkable elsewhere, with political, economic, and security implications that go far beyond the UK.
LONDON – Political earthquakes don’t get much bigger than this. The United Kingdom’s shocking vote to leave the European Union threatens to break up Britain, further unravel the EU, and destabilize the West. It creates a gaping crack in the liberal international order painstakingly built by American and European leaders since World War II. Worse, it does so at a time when that structure faces severe threats from Vladimir Putin’s Russia and violent extremist groups like the Islamic State.
LONDON – Political earthquakes don’t get much bigger than this. The United Kingdom’s shocking vote to leave the European Union threatens to break up Britain, further unravel the EU, and destabilize the West. It creates a gaping crack in the liberal international order painstakingly built by American and European leaders since World War II. Worse, it does so at a time when that structure faces severe threats from Vladimir Putin’s Russia and violent extremist groups like the Islamic State.