Read on Twitter
UK Twitter takes on the EU right now: “Ah-ha! I always told you they were the baddies!” vs “OMG! I thought they were this benign cosmopolitan social movement!”
Guys, any realist could’ve told you they’re neither a good *nor* bad actor. They’re just using their relative... 1/?
Guys, any realist could’ve told you they’re neither a good *nor* bad actor. They’re just using their relative... 1/?
...power to advance their interests, like any state/bloc (especially one with substantial economic wherewithal facing a security crisis). The UK made its choice to be outside - which is fine, because there were costs to being inside - but shouldn’t now be surprised that a... 2/?
...big power is acting like all big powers ever. Short of towing the British Isles to the US Eastern Seaboard or the Asia-Pacific, as some seem to imagine is possible by proclaiming a slogan, the prudent realpolitikal choice remains preservation of cooperation with an... 3/?
..economic regional hegemon capable of making our lives much harder, if it chooses to, but with which we also have many common interests. Meanwhile, in Moscow, Beijing, and (whisper it) Washington, plenty will be delighted to see the European powers tearing strips off each other.
For anyone interested, I have a (pre-referendum) take on how a federalising EU might coerce the UK ( https://warontherocks.com/2016/04/the-fate-of-britain-offshore-balancing-and-the-brexit/) and a (post-ref) summary of various possible security consequences ( https://networks.h-net.org/node/28443/discussions/146613/issf-policy-roundtable-1-2-brexit#_Toc463173168). Also this in @ip_palgrave on both: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41311-017-0015-2.
