The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Netflix apologizes for filming 'Single's Inferno 3' in marine sanctuary

  • 3

    Seoul city erroneously sends emergency alert after NK launch

  • 5

    In-N-Out Burger pop-up store attracts record crowd

  • 7

    Seoul City takes flak for bungled emergency text alert on NK's rocket launch

  • 9

    'BLACKPINK the Game' showcases group's unique charm

  • 11

    Chinese account for 54% of foreign-owned homes in Korea

  • 13

    INTERVIEWAsia expected to be key driver of ESG growth: Deloitte ESG Partner

  • 15

    Retailers adopt generative AI to offer personalized products, services

  • 17

    INTERVIEWLee Jun-hyuk unrecognizable in 'The Roundup: No Way Out'

  • 19

    Hamburger franchises having trouble in M&A market

  • 2

    BTS' J-Hope to work as drill instructor at Army boot camp: sources

  • 4

    BTS' RM named honorary ambassador of war-remains excavation agency

  • 6

    NK's attempt to launch 1st spy satellite fails after 'abnormal' flight: S. Korean military

  • 8

    Calls grow for female flight attendants to ditch skirts for pants

  • 10

    Rude cabbies in Seoul face stricter penalties

  • 12

    Committee calls for lowering requirements for foreigners to teach English online

  • 14

    EXO's Baekhyun, Xiumin and Chen in dispute with SM over contract issue

  • 16

    North Korea's spy satellite launch fails as rocket falls into sea

  • 18

    Korea, Japan resume dialogue on steel cooperation after 5-year hiatus

  • 20

    AMCHAM stresses S. Korea-US ties after NK fires 'space launch vehicle'

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
Fri, June 2, 2023 | 23:51
Guest Column
After Brexit, Frexit, Nexit, Swexit...
Posted : 2016-06-27 16:42
Updated : 2016-06-27 17:44
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
By Gwynne Dyer

"The EU is dying. I hope we've knocked the first brick out of the wall," exulted Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party. He proposed that June 23rd, when the British narrowly voted (51.8 percent of the votes) to leave the European Union, should be a new national holiday called Independence Day.

But author J.K. Rowling, who wanted Scotland to remain in the United Kingdom and the UK to remain in the EU, tweeted sadly: "Scotland will seek independence now. Cameron's legacy will be breaking up two unions. Neither needed to happen."

Soon-to-be-former Prime Minister David Cameron's decision to hold a referendum on Britain's EU membership has assured the dismantling of the United Kingdom. 58 percent of the English voted "Leave", while 62 percent of Scots voted "Remain". It is "democratically unacceptable" for Scotland to be dragged out of the EU by the English, said First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and a second independence referendum in Scotland is "highly likely".

It remains to be seen whether Cameron's historic blunder will also trigger the disintegration of the EU itself, but there are plenty of right-wing nationalists in other EU countries who hope there will be a domino effect.

Marine Le Pen, leader of France's Front National, called the UK referendum "a key moment in European history" and said "I hope the French also have a similar exercise." And "Frexit"is just the start.

Geert Wilders, whose anti-Muslim, anti-immigration Freedom Party is predicted to win 46 of the 150 seats in the Dutch parliament in next year's election, promised that if he were elected, the Netherlands will hold its own "Nexit" referendum. Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League and the populist 5-Star Movement both called for a referendum on Italian membership of the EU.

Park calls for crisis management
Park calls for crisis management
2016-06-27 17:55  |  National

Kristian Thulesen Dahls, the leader of the Danish People's Party, said that Denmark should follow Britain's lead. Nationalist leaders in Eastern Europe like Poland's Jarosław Kaczynski and Hungary's Viktor Orban indulge in harsh anti-EU rhetoric all the time. And so on.

But most of the people who might vote for these nationalist leaders don't want the destruction of the EU, just big changes in the way it works ― in particular the reform or abolition of the euro and much stricter controls on immigration. Unlike the "Little Englanders" who voted for Brexit, they see the European Union as an essential bulwark against a return to the old Europe of endless savage wars.

The EU's leaders will have to take a very tough line in the negotiations about the European Union's post-Brexit relations with the rump of the UK. A horrible example will be required to show the nationalists and populists in other members that leaving is hard and painful. And to preserve the EU they will have to abolish or drastically restructure the euro currency (but that had become necessary anyway).

The odds are, however, that the EU will survive. Its biggest problem will not be the loss of Britain, its second-biggest economy, but rather the fact that post-Brexit Germany will dominate the Union even more than it does already.

As for the English, they have made their bed and they will have to lie in it. The pound sterling has already lost much value and will probably lose much more. The last of the three major global ratings agencies, Standard and Poor's, will downgrade the UK's AAA credit rating. Foreign investment will dry up, in recognition of the fact that the country will probably lose duty-free access to the EU's "single market".

Further down the road more pain will follow, as jobs disappear abroad, the English economy goes into recession, and the City of London starts to lose its status as a global financial centre rivalled only by New York. That will make domestic politics nasty enough, but the anti-immigrant fervour and outright racism that disfigured the "Leave" campaign are unlikely to dwindle in the ugly aftermath.

Scotland will vote to secede from the UK, but it will face major legal and political barriers in its campaign to remain a member of the EU in its own right. Spain in particular will give it a hard time, as Madrid does not want it to provide a precedent for Catalonia seceding from Spain and painlessly re-emerging as an independent EU member.

Northern Ireland will face an even harder time, as the Republic of Ireland will continue to be a EU member and so it will have to re-establish border controls. One alternative,of course, would be for Northern Ireland (which voted strongly in favour of EU membership) to unite with the Republic ― but Northern Irish Protestants would still fiercely resist such a proposal, and in that context a revival of armed conflict in the province is not unthinkable.

The triumph of Brexit is a most regrettable outcome for everybody involved and possibly even for the world economy. But perhaps it isn't really all that shocking: former French president Charles De Gaulle vetoed Britain's entry to the Common Market, the EU's ancestor, for five years on the grounds that it didn't really have a "European vocation". Turns out he was right.

Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. Contact him at gwynne763121476@aol.com.



 
wooribank
Top 10 Stories
1In-N-Out Burger pop-up store attracts record crowd In-N-Out Burger pop-up store attracts record crowd
2Calls grow for female flight attendants to ditch skirts for pants Calls grow for female flight attendants to ditch skirts for pants
3Hamburger franchises having trouble in M&A market Hamburger franchises having trouble in M&A market
4Hallyu inspires Thailand to mull ways to export its culture Hallyu inspires Thailand to mull ways to export its culture
5Pyongyang seeks to portray rocket as science effort by admitting failure: experts Pyongyang seeks to portray rocket as science effort by admitting failure: experts
6Man gets five-year jail term for K-pop concert ticket fraud Man gets five-year jail term for K-pop concert ticket fraud
7Small business owners urge stricter rules on migrant workers switching jobs Small business owners urge stricter rules on migrant workers switching jobs
8Pandas at Everland become tourist magnet Pandas at Everland become tourist magnet
9Nexon case reignites controversy over high level of inheritance tax Nexon case reignites controversy over high level of inheritance tax
10[INTERVIEW] French photographer highlights amazing transformations of dog meat farm survivors INTERVIEWFrench photographer highlights amazing transformations of dog meat farm survivors
Top 5 Entertainment News
1From hardcore action to heart-throbbing romance, series to hit in June From hardcore action to heart-throbbing romance, series to hit in June
2'HyeMiLeeYeChaePa' producer Lee Tae-kyung hopeful of second season 'HyeMiLeeYeChaePa' producer Lee Tae-kyung hopeful of second season
3How artist Michael Rakowitz resurrects lost past of Iraq through food packaging How artist Michael Rakowitz resurrects lost past of Iraq through food packaging
4[INTERVIEW] Lee Jun-hyuk unrecognizable in 'The Roundup: No Way Out' INTERVIEWLee Jun-hyuk unrecognizable in 'The Roundup: No Way Out'
5'Elemental' director on bringing his personal story of immigration to cinema 'Elemental' director on bringing his personal story of immigration to cinema
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group