Perhaps the most obvious place to look for regionalization is Europe. Europe has been regionalizing since the European Economic Community was established in 1957. Since that time, no other part of the world has formed such close economic and political ties. Yet at the end of this month, one of its primary members, the United Kingdom, is scheduled to leave the European Union, raising some questions about the Union’s long-term survivability.
Arguably, BREXIT was brought on more by hubris than rational thought. Some politicians trumpeted how foreigners in Belgium were hurting the British economy and forcing Britain to accept other foreigners who were burdening the country’s welfare rolls. Wildly spun half-truths induced the population to buy into the idea that Britain doesn’t need anyone else—it can go it alone.
Yet such a departure runs directly counter to regionalization. What began after World War II as a way to keep nations from fighting each other has led to an economic entity so prosperous and integrated that Britain fears leaving it without a negotiated settlement—a settlement that would alleviate much of the pain of the impending divorce. Yet the UK is scheduled to leave at the end of this month without or without one. This has led Parliament to pass a law that the UK cannot leave without one, which in turn prompted the Prime Minister (who favors BREXIT) to dissolve Parliament, which in turn was blocked by the British courts.
Perhaps the British people would have benefited during the BREXIT campaign if they had they listened to an early advocate of regionalization. Winston Churchill once told a friend about his meeting with Stalin and Roosevelt at the Tehran Conference. “I realized at Tehran for the first time, what a small nation we are. There I sat with the great Russian bear on one side of me…and on the other side the great American buffalo, and between the two sat the poor little English donkey who was the only one… who knew the right way home.” Let’s hope the UK finds its way home.
References:
Washington Post, “Brexit is a divorce,” 28 October 2018, B2.
William Manchester and Paul Reid, The Last Lion, Vol. III, Little, Brown, & Co, London, 2012, p.771.
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