I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that a lot of people here in the United States aren’t exactly caught up on the nuances of UK politics, and as a result, might be left confused by the events of the last several days. Brexit has been a confusing time for the British, let alone us Americans. So, I’m going to attempt to give a brief rundown on what Brexit is, why it happened, and what impacts it might have on America and the greater world.

So, first, what is Brexit? Brexit is the colloquial term for Britain’s exit from the European Union. The referendum, which went 52-48 in favor of leaving the EU, called for the British government to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which establishes the means by which a member state can leave the EU. Once the UK triggers Article 50, a 2-year timer for negotiations will start, during which period the UK will have to renegotiate many of its extant agreements, whether diplomatic or economic, and revise its legal code due to the absence of the EU's regulation, among several other equally vital and Herculean tasks. The referendum is not legally binding, but since Britain isn’t a totalitarian dictatorship, it will follow the popular opinion.

Now, let us move on to the pros and cons of Brexit. Some of the arguments in favor of leaving the UK were that Britain would save the money it spends on membership fees, would be able to negotiate its own trade deals, and charge tariffs on imports and exports to EU countries. Sovereignty was also a major argument (which is slightly ironic given the fact that Britain spent several centuries colonizing any underdeveloped area that had anything remotely valuable). Oh, and xenophobia. LOTS of xenophobia. There was a very strong anti-immigrant bent to many of the arguments made by people in the Leave campaign, and many of them will sound familiar to those who have followed the ongoing American presidential elections. Many Britons wanted to “take [their] country back,” and fears of loss of jobs to immigrants, especially given that Turkey may soon join the EU, were paramount (if often groundless).

The cons of Brexit were clear from the start. Britain’s economy, cut off from that of Europe, would plummet. The vast majority of politicians, economists, and other people “in the know,” including basically every expert ever, strongly opposed leaving. Britain would lose some of the security of being an EU member. It would probably be viewed as a much less useful partner by NATO, the UN, and the US. The EU has spent a vast amount subsidizing economically challenged and declining areas in Britain, such as Cornwall, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and leaving the UK would lose those subsidies. Britain would give up most of its influence in Europe, by moving from being the second largest economy in the EU to being an outsider.

According to Professor Adrian Favell of the London School of Economics, the limited freedom of movement between Britain and other EU nations would deter “the brightest and the best” of the continent from coming to Britain and reduce the pool of workers that British companies could draw from. In most incidents of this variety, having the world’s experts in a field almost unanimously opposed to a position would deter one from espousing said position. That didn’t prevent Brexit leader and Justice Secretary Michael Gove from going on record, saying “I think the people of this country have had enough of experts.” The fact that this comment was made in a positive light, and not by one of the rank and file, but by a major leader, signifies something frankly scary about the Brexit campaign. That is to say, it operated in a blatant disregard of the facts.

The result of the referendum swinging 52-48 in favor of leaving the EU was, well, predictable. The pound tanked to its lowest level in years. The British economy slipped dramatically, leading to France passing it in the rankings of the strongest European economies. David Cameron, the British Prime Minister (who thought it would be a good idea to call for this referendum), has resigned. The EU is understandably infuriated at Britain, and seems unlikely to make leaving a simple process, especially since Britain now has only two years from whenever they trigger Article 50 to renegotiate basically every existing treaty they have, along with every trade agreement, and determine which laws from the EU they want to keep as the law of the land in Britain, and which laws they should let slide. It’s a monumental process. And the UK took that massive step lightly. Only a few hours after the end of the polls, some of the top Google searches in the UK included “what is the EU,” “what is Brexit,” and numerous similar queries.

According to an clip shown on HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (one of the major sources for this article), at least one voter who voted Leave publicly expressed a desire for a do-over referendum, and according to CBS News, a petition in favor of such a referendum is approaching 4 million signatures, or one in every 16 Britons, with more doubtless forthcoming, as every time I reload the petition, it gains hundreds more signatures.. Unfortunately, as Oliver mentioned on his show last night, referendums aren’t practice tests, and one doesn’t usually get a second shot. The British people have spoken, albeit without much information or sense, and regrettably it looks like the United Kingdom will continue to move to exit the European Union. The massive petition will be considered by Parliament, but, while the first referendum was not legally binding, it seems doubtful that it will be considered.

Other things that must be considered surround the home countries of the UK. Wales, Scotland, and North Ireland all voted strongly in favor of remaining in the EU, and now there has been talk of a second Scottish referendum in favor of independence, a reunification of Ireland, and Wales also departing. In addition, now Brits have to obtain visas to live and work in the EU, and vice versa, which should lead to a decrease in both tourism and the economic exchanges that have bolstered both Britain and Europe.

So, in summation, last Thursday, British voters voted to leave the European Union, for a combination of nativist, nationalist, and economic reasons. In the past several days, their stock market has greatly decreased, the pound has crashed, their prime minister has resigned, effective October, they probably only have about two years to renegotiate basically every treaty they are a member of, and may not even see many of the proposed benefits of their leaving the EU. Xenophobia took the driver's wheel, and unfortunately an entire country will now suffer for it. I hope this article has helped clear up some of the confusion surrounding the Brexit.