I was that American exchange student last year. I was the radical republican. I was the American exceptionalist. I was pure judgement of the liberalness of European politics.
After spending a semester and taking four courses solely dedicated to the European Union (taught by premiere professors in the European political realm) I feel I am fairly qualified to offer a fair opinion on this topic: the Brexit.
Last year, jokingly, I said "If I were British, I'd be a UKIPer." They were conservative, patriotic, and basically a British embodiment of the Republican Party. I got under all of my friends' skin because of this (they were all European, so I was much more conservative than they were accustomed to).
I thought a Brexit would be a fun thought... Maybe the UK would go back to its glory days. Fight the European bureaucracy and finally shed the tag of being labeled as "European." They would have sole jurisdiction on their borders, have control of the Pound, and be able to enact their own laws without fear of an EU Directive reigning superior.
Well, as word broke early Friday morning, the Brexit actually is going to happen. More than 50 percent of UK citizens believe the UK should leave the European Union. There are positives and negatives for all countries in the world. Economically and politically, nearly every country will be impacted in some way. However, what strikes me as the most impactful fallout from this referendum is the intrinsic and self-identification fallout that will occur from this.
To understand what this means, you must look back to the years immediately following World War II:
All of Europe was in shambles. Great Britain was recovering from the German Blitzkriegs. France had many battles fought in its territory and was also devastated. Germany was split in zones between the Western powers and the Soviet Union.
Although the Western world worked with the Soviets during World War II (which shows how diabolical and wicked the Nazis were), the alliance did not extend post-war. The Soviets wanted to spread communism across the world, and the West wanted to spread democracy.
Germany, which has been a superpower in the European political sphere, had to be kept under control to prevent another uprising. So, Germany was split into two countries: the Federal Republic of Germany (controlled by the United States, France, and Great Britain) and the German Democratic Republic (controlled by the Soviet Union). Additionally, the "iron curtain" went up and the Cold War began.
There is a theory in political science that suggests that states that trade together won't go to war against one another. The French, who were still furious with the Germans, wanted to make sure Germany would NEVER go to war with France again. In 1951, to try to unite the western countries in the European continent together (both to create alliances and to have a sign of solidarity against the East), the European Coal and Steel Community was founded. Basically, the ECSC allowed for its member states to freely trade coal and steel with one another. This would cause Germany to become reliant on France in industry, thus making Germany unable to start another war with France.
What started off as a trade agreement has grown into the multinational institution known today as the European Union. Over the course of a half-century, the European Coal and Steel Community evolved into the European Communities and then into the current European Union. The European Union is more than just a political or economic body, it embodies a spirit that lives within its citizens. The European Union represents all that is good in the western world.
For example, the European Union is an enforcer of the rule of law. The rule of law is how fair a country treats its citizens. In layman's terms, a country that follows the rule of law guarantees fair and free democracies. In a society governed by the rule of law, no government nor class is given more power than any other. Governments are held accountable for its actions just as citizens are. In order to ascend to the European Union, a country must show that it is devoted to following the rule of law.
Additionally, the European Union is a champion for human rights and democracy. While these things are essential for the rule of law, they are both independent aspects of a free society. The European Union brought rights to underprivileged minorities across the European continent. From Romania to Greece and every country in between, all members of the European Union must have protection of human rights. The European Court of Justice (an institution of the European Union) enforces regulations and directives enacted by the European Union which protect all classes of people (be them French or Romani Gypsies).
Many fear the EU will create a "United States of Europe," but that's not the case. The frameworks that are set in place by the European Union were created to ensure peace and stability in Europe. Since the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, no member state has gone to war with another member state. The very basic premise of the European Union is its "four freedoms." The four freedoms are the movements of goods, capital, services, and people. If you're French and you want to work in Greece, so be it. If your Spanish-based company wants to sell products target at Swedish tech nerds, you can do so without tariffs. The European Union has created a European identity - something that was unthinkable seventy-five years ago.
To us as a younger generation, it's easy to look past all this and take it as a given. World War II is history, it was about 75 years ago. However, that's just not so. Europe was torn apart by the War and recovered to something stronger than it has ever been in its entire history.
The Soviet Union did not fall until about 20 years ago. Communism was a not-so-distant threat that killed thousands of humans across the Soviet bloc. Germany, one of the most prosperous and human rights oriented societies in the world, was split into two separate countries until 1990. The modern German state is not much older than today's college students.
The euro did not come into existence until 1999. The single market system that runs Europe is a new entity. The European Union is a new political entity that has created an unheard of peace in Europe.
