So it happened. Britain has decided to leave the EU (European Union). With such a shocking, yet somehow not surprising, outcome from the recent British referendum, what does this mean will happen? What are the short-term and long-term ramifications? Below is a tentative list of what can be expected, or what has already happened following the immediate decision.
Financial Volatility
Yes, it has happened, and the British leaving the EU is triggering financial volatility throughout the world. Sure, if Britain decides to leave the EU, it could be safely assumed that there would be economic uncertiainty there. However, all of the world's markets took a quick knee-jerk reaction the news: the US dropped several percent, some Asian markets were completely shut down for fear of free fall, and of course, the British market fell by 8 percent. Will this spell the future of downtrodden economies? Probably not for the entire world, but it is certain that no one really knows how this news is going to filter out through global economies in the short-term.
Change of Leadership
In an almost equivocally shocking event, David Cameron, the current UK prime minister, has decided to resign following the country's decision to leave the EU, which he opposed. Citing that the country's opinion in contrast to his, he wants new leadership that agrees with them in order to lead them down the path that they voted for. This comes after many campaigners for Britain to leave the EU still wanted Cameron to remain the PM even if the country went against his wishes. Almost immediately after the vote to Leave was confirmed, Cameron made an address stating his need to leave and give the British people a new face to lead them. How will this change take place? Cameron will remain in his current seat until the fall in a keeping-heads-above-water role, but he has made clear that he wants a successor picked quite soon. This means that the lobbying and jockeying for position that normal elections take many months to sort will now happen within a few months. An intense and complicated British political process is about to happen, one that in all honesty, not even the storied British really have a precedent for.
Tempers Will Flare
Even though one side won the referendum, that doesn't mean that everyone that disagreed will automatically support the other side. This process will continue to be tense all the way to the actual breaking away formally from the EU. A great start to this separation was when several millions of signatures were put on a petition to the UK government wanting another referendum vote, because the winning margin was so small. Furthermore, other EU leaders who strongly urged the UK to stay now say that since they want out the other countries want the UK out as soon as possible. Contrarily, the leader of the Leave campaign has said publicly that there is no need to make this a expediated process. Also, David Cameron has said that he will not start the leaving process; he will wait for the next PM to do so. Finally, with the surprise resignation from Cameron, the new leave party has a new conflict about who to present to the British people for the new PM.
All of this conflict will be happening in the upcoming months. Some want it all to be resolved in a month, while other people want it to be a two-year process. Without a doubt, the upcoming time in Britain, and Europe frankly, will be tumultuous across many sectors. Honestly, the upcoming time in every part of the world may be chaotic or at least on edge about how these talks and movements go. One thing can be said for certain, no one truly knows what will happen.
