“Brexit” is shorthand for “Britain” and “exit,” meaning the UK leaving the European Union (EU). Following a referendum held on June 23, 2016, during which 17.4 million (51.9%) voters in favor of leaving the EU versus 15.1 million (48.1%) voters to remain, the EU has agreed to extend the Brexit deadline to October 31, 2019. Controversial as it is, debates over Brexit involve various perspectives such as social, economic, and political impacts and so on. In this paper, a detailed exploration on significant effects that Brexit will bring on regional and international relations, especially the UK-EU relationship, will be presented.
Brexit, or British exit, has put the relationship between the UK and the EU on the table. Throughout history, the UK-EU relationship has been ambivalent and contentious. On 1 January 1973 with Denmark and Ireland, the United Kingdom joined membership with the EEC (European Economic Community), the predecessor of the EU, hoping to preserve and strengthen peace and liberty (Pruitt 2017). However, the UK held a referendum in 1975 concerning “whether to stay in the European Community (Common Market),” in which 67% of voters agreed to remain (Pruitt 2017). In 1984, the tensions between the EEC and the UK surfaced with the Conservative Prime Minister-Margaret Thatcher insisting on cutting down on British payments to the EEC budget (Pruitt 2017). In 1993, the EEC was renamed as the EC (European Community) and became the main component of the EU since the Maastricht Treaty took effect (Pruitt 2017). In 2013, David Cameron, the first UK prime minister to veto an EU treaty, addressed the challenges facing Europe and promised to renegotiate membership in the EU in a speech; meanwhile, the clamor for the UK Independence grew louder and louder (Pruitt 2017). In May 2015, Cameron worked on negotiations with the EU such as changes in migrant welfare payments and financial safeguards and so on (Pruitt 2017). On ...