After weeks of a charged up campaign in which the gloves came off early, Britons yesterday approached the polling booths with trepidation. Here was a vote that would decide the future of Britain in the 28-nation European Union. The Brexit referendum is an important moment of reckoning for the nation of 65 million. It can also prove decisive for the European Union already in a flux due to the interplay of several political and economic factors making a mockery of the cohesion it is supposed to display.
The island nation of Britain has been a part of Europe in a way that can be called an adjustment rather than integration. Split from mainland Europe by the English Channel in the south and North Sea in the East, the United Kingdom has always straddled a divide which is hard to bridge. Even political integration has been hard to achieve with Britain’s colonial legacy leaving an imprint on modern times. The royalty, firmly rooted in the Buckingham Palace, makes the nation’s political legacy a tad different than other European nations’ history. Could such differences have led to efforts to take the nation away from an European superstate?
The European Union is a giant entity with a lumbering bureaucracy and a varied geography. Brussels helms a bureaucratic system given to delays and red tape, forcing some countries to think they were better outside the system. The union straddles a varied geography from subtropical southern Italy to the German Alps and the cold Baltics. Integrating a country given to a deep-rooted history bathed in colonialism could be difficult for a motley gathering of states which have themselves not found common cause.
The summation of reasons for Britain taking a shot at leaving the EU for charting its own course can be academically convincing. However, they still do not lend sufficient momentum to the country to exit the union. Europeans have together suffered the vagaries of conflicts including World War I and II which changed the course of history. Britain had a key role to play in determining the course of the wars. Going away from the bloc would be like leaving an alliance that was supportive and cushioned many a shock.
The economic consequences of Brexit cannot be overemphasised. The island nation, already on a sticky wicket as far as its finances are concerned, will leave a bitter taste in the mouth if it decides to leave. Post-British EU will not be the same as it is now.
After weeks of a charged up campaign in which the gloves came off early, Britons yesterday approached the polling booths with trepidation. Here was a vote that would decide the future of Britain in the 28-nation European Union. The Brexit referendum is an important moment of reckoning for the nation of 65 million. It can also prove decisive for the European Union already in a flux due to the interplay of several political and economic factors making a mockery of the cohesion it is supposed to display.
The island nation of Britain has been a part of Europe in a way that can be called an adjustment rather than integration. Split from mainland Europe by the English Channel in the south and North Sea in the East, the United Kingdom has always straddled a divide which is hard to bridge. Even political integration has been hard to achieve with Britain’s colonial legacy leaving an imprint on modern times. The royalty, firmly rooted in the Buckingham Palace, makes the nation’s political legacy a tad different than other European nations’ history. Could such differences have led to efforts to take the nation away from an European superstate?
The European Union is a giant entity with a lumbering bureaucracy and a varied geography. Brussels helms a bureaucratic system given to delays and red tape, forcing some countries to think they were better outside the system. The union straddles a varied geography from subtropical southern Italy to the German Alps and the cold Baltics. Integrating a country given to a deep-rooted history bathed in colonialism could be difficult for a motley gathering of states which have themselves not found common cause.
The summation of reasons for Britain taking a shot at leaving the EU for charting its own course can be academically convincing. However, they still do not lend sufficient momentum to the country to exit the union. Europeans have together suffered the vagaries of conflicts including World War I and II which changed the course of history. Britain had a key role to play in determining the course of the wars. Going away from the bloc would be like leaving an alliance that was supportive and cushioned many a shock.
The economic consequences of Brexit cannot be overemphasised. The island nation, already on a sticky wicket as far as its finances are concerned, will leave a bitter taste in the mouth if it decides to leave. Post-British EU will not be the same as it is now.
