Brexit Britain: The shape of more things to come

On June 23, Britain voted to leave the European Union in a historic referendum that exposed deep divisions in the country and led to David Cameron announcing his resignation as prime minister.

The victory for the Leave campaign overturned 43 years of British membership of the European project, sending shockwaves through the global financial markets. But Brexit isn't just about economics and immigration as the Leave campaign would like to suggest; it's about the shape of many more things to come, as analyzed by Fars News Agency.

The UK is the first country to leave the EU and its absence will be noticeable. Brexit has inspired a great number of people, nationalist movements and far-right groups in other EU states. Governments face a serious challenge staving off a wave of Euro-skepticism gripping the continent. Anti-EU political parties are gaining ground and the danger from extremists and populists is immense.

Some 45 percent of respondents to an Ipsos Mori poll carried out in eight EU countries say they want similar in-out referendums. In particular, people in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain hope to have their own opportunity to go to the polls on their EU membership, with between 41 and 48 percent of respondents saying they would vote to leave.

Brexit will also have unforeseeable consequences on European security and cooperation - just as the way the collapse of the former Soviet Union had on the world order. That's what many political figures and national security advisors have tried to predict as a consequence. They say Britain leaving the EU will make the country more vulnerable to terrorist attacks, as "counterterrorism is a team game, and the EU is the best framework available." They also say no country can succeed on its own and Brexit leads to instability on the entire continent.

In Brexit Britain, poor families, refugees and migrants still face austerity, poverty and extreme inequality. The rotten policies of the government will never go away. The working people have been deceived and manipulated into believing that Brexit will bring about relief from the grinding austerity that is destroying their lives and communities. The problems they face in Britain cannot be solved in other parts of Europe either. These are European problems and this requires solidarity and cooperation across national boundaries.

Brexit is also about scapegoating and xenophobia. The xenophobic nature of the Leave campaign, expressed in a number of remarkable advertisements sponsored by the Leave camp and targeting Syrian refugees, is a phenomenon that we are seeing elsewhere in Fortress Europe. In light of the Syrian refugee crisis, many European governments are abandoning common ground and moderation, and pursuing extreme solutions at the margins.

The British exit from the EU will also have consequences for the United States. The UK is the EU’s second-largest economy after Germany. It has one of the largest militaries on the continent, and is one of two EU nuclear powers alongside France. Britain is also an entry point for Washington to have its geopolitical perspective reflected in the EU.

Brexit Britain will weaken American influence in the EU more broadly. With the US pivoting toward Asia, it is just another factor that could accelerate a decline in Europe. It will make it a more difficult region to trade, travel and negotiate with, while geopolitical power rises elsewhere.

Republican presidential candidate Donal Trump has lauded the anti-EU vote as "a great thing". It tells us more about the possibility of Brexit to America’s ongoing flirtation with racist Trump, who is anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant, and looks for simple solutions by getting rid of certain scapegoats. The same is true about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The Queen of War wants more "humanitarian interventions" in collaboration with now fractured Europe, which is equally bad news for the Muslim world.

As is, Britain's vote affects over 500 million people living throughout the EU, where anti-immigrant demagoguery has become politically potent and people who are of the Muslim religion are a favorite trump card. With Europe facing the collective challenges of the conflict in Ukraine, the wars in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya, and the refugee crisis, the timing for Brexit and the resurgence of nationalist politics in Europe couldn’t be worse.

Here, Far Right predictions of the end of Europe may be overblown, but the Brexit vote seems likely to push the EU into a period of introspection about its most fundamental tenets. Whether they are strengthened or discarded depends on the ability of the 27 remaining members to reach an agreement about what the future of Europe should look like. For the time being though, a great number of people want out. You! In Europe, fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

(EA/SS)