Tag: Brexit

What Third-country Role is Open to the UK in Defence?

Image courtesy of European External Action Service/Flickr. (CC BY-NC 2.0)

This article was originally published by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) on 24 April 2018.

What expectations should the EU harbour with respect to Britain’s continued contribution to EU defence activities after Brexit and can the former member state expect special treatment?

With Brexit, the UK will become a ‘third state’ vis-à-vis the European Union. In the defence domain, this means that the UK will no longer take part in EU decision-making or operational (planning) bodies, will not command or be the framework nation of an EU-led force, and any British contribution to an EU operation will be subject to the rules that apply to third countries.

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EU-NATO Alignment after Brexit

Image courtesy of European External Action Service/Flickr. (CC BY-NC 2.0)

This article was originally published by Carnegie Europe on 22 March 2018.

After Brexit, there is no guarantee that the major powers in NATO and the EU will agree on how to respond to future crises.

At a summit in Brussels on March 22, EU heads of government will issue a statement of solidarity with the United Kingdom following the recent nerve agent attack on double-agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury. This statement of support follows similar strong declarations by NATO and the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council.

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The Ambiguities of Franco-British Defense Cooperation

Image courtesy of ElisaRiva/Pixabay.

This article was originally published by Carnegie Europe on 18 January 2018.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May will discuss their defense relationship, among other things, at a bilateral summit on January 18. Franco-British collaboration is vital for European defense. This is not only because they are the two leading European military powers at NATO, but also because they have the most ambitious bilateral military relationship of any European countries, based on the 2010 Lancaster House treaties.

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The Doctor and the Cure: The Crisis of Sovereignty in the Twenty-first Century

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This article was originally published by E-International Relations on 24 February 2017.

The world is sick. Un/fortunately, while advocates of Brexit and other populists have correctly identified the symptoms of broad societal illness—overpowering anxiety about the present and the future; a loss of control of the self, the family, the community and the nation itself—they have misdiagnosed the primary cause of our infirmity and their efforts to cure the patient are therefore doomed to fail.

The palliative narrative offered by Leavers is a simple one.  In their view, a nefarious cabal of ‘globalists’ are far removed from the everyday realities of regular people.  Yet they have somehow wrested authority from local representatives (since globalism and national interest are inherently at odds), and thereby have undermined the democratic character and unique identities of individual countries. Leavers now suggest that a ream of new barriers and other protectionist measures will seal and heal the punctured state and allow people to “take back control” of their countr(ies).

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The Coming Brexit Tragedy

So we drank the kool-aid...
Courtesy of duncan c/Flickr. CC BY-NC 2.0

This article was published by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) on 3 January 2017.

With both sides ignoring the decline of the liberal world order, the Brexit process is set to result in tragedy for both the UK and EU.

This past year changed everything, except how governments think. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the pre-negotiations for Brexit. With both sides ignoring the far-reaching implications of Donald Trump’s election as US president – namely, the decline of the liberal world order – the process seems set to produce a tragedy for the United Kingdom and the European Union alike.

Judging by the behavior of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s diplomats, one might believe that Brexit is the only real uncertainty nowadays. Indeed, they seem convinced that their only imperative – beyond protecting the unity of the Conservative Party, of course – is to secure as many benefits for the UK as possible.

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