Politics in the United States of America are certainly a tangled, complex web these days. With so much happening in the United States it is easy to overlook the events that are occurring in the international state system. This however, would be a grave mistake, as the events that occur outside the borders affect the policies of the United States of America. There are numerous important states across the globe that will be discussed in the following weeks. The first country to analyze is the branch from which the United States of America stems from: the United Kingdom.
One of the biggest problems that continues to plague politics in the United Kingdom is the process of the Brexit. On June 23 of 2016 the United Kingdom held a referendum on other or not they should remain within the Europe Union. When the results came in it revealed that the country was extremely split amongst citizens. 51.9% of the population decided that they wanted to leave the European Union; narrowly edging out the 48.1% who voted to remain within the European Union. More specifically within the United Kingdom, Britain voted 53.4% to 46.6% to leave the European Union, Wales voted 52.5% to 47.5% to leave, Scotland voted 62% to 38% to remain in the European Union, and Northern Ireland voted 55.8% to 44.2% to stay. Thus, the process of the Brexit began.
The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union for a variety of reasons. One main reason the desire to leave the European Union was due to economics. Much of southern Europe is experiencing a stagnant economy and economic crisis; therefore, opponents to the European Union thought that being tethered to those countries would be detrimental to the United Kingdom’s overall prosperity. Another reason that people wanted to leave the European Union was so that the United Kingdom would have more sovereignty. As seen with many nations across the international stage there has been a trend towards nationalism in recent years: the same is true for the United Kingdom. Those who wanted to leave the European Union argued that the United Kingdom should be able to make their own decisions on issues such as immigration- something that, under the European Union, was impossible to due. A third large contributing cause towards the decision to leave the European Union was revolt against the political elite in the United Kingdom. The average, everyday citizens felt as if though the leaders had lost touch with what was best for the nation and therefore rejected current political leaders and systems.
The world had mixed reactions to the United Kingdoms. Many state leaders of the European Union expressed their regret of the outcome but that they would still cooperate with the United Kingdom in the future. Then President Barack Obama, expressed that the United States would respect the decisions of the citizens of the United Kingdom and looked forward to working with both the Untied Kingdom and the European Union in the future. Despite the seeming support from all global leaders the financial market seemed to have less faith in this decision. Following the Brexit vote stocks around the globe plummeted and the British pound- one of the world’s strongest currencies- fell with it as well.
Despite these events occurring almost three years ago, the Brexit vote remains a major issue for British politics. The date in which the United Kingdom is scheduled to leave the European Union is currently slated for March 29th, 2019. With such a close departure date one would assume that the United Kingdom has a plan for its exit. However, this could not be further from the truth. As of right now there appears to be no deal with the European Union. This so called “hard break” from the European Union (as opposed to a “soft break”- one where there is a deal) would have the United Kingdom leaving the European with no benefits that it had while being a member. This is problematic as it greatly will affect how the United Kingdom operates with its close trading partners; no longer will the United Kingdom be able to have its citizens move freely across European borders and no longer will the United Kingdom have access to free trade in the region. The government does possess the ability to extend the deadline of when the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union, if they choose to do so.
The stress of trying to create a deal for the Brexit has put severe strain on the support of current Prime Minister Theresa May. Many citizens in the nation are now doubting the Brexit plan and May’s ability to lead the country as a whole. Most recently, May was subjected to a vote of no-confidence (meaning that the majority does not support the policy of a leader) but somehow was able to survive it.
The politics of the United Kingdom is obviously a complicated and confusing. The future of the United Kingdom, its political leaders, and its prosperity is uncertain at this point and will most definitely be very exciting observe.
Images courtesy of BBC News