How Brexit will change the world

Author:
Politico EU

The results of the Brexit referendum are in, and it is chaos. The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union. Prime Minister David Cameron is stepping down. The Dow Jones has fallen 611 points in a day. The decision has rattled the world, and even the pro-Brexit British voters seemed stunned. “I’m a bit shocked to be honest,” one Leave voter told the BBC. “I’m shocked that we actually have voted to Leave, I didn’t think that was going to happen.”

Sure, there is a lot of hype now, but, in the long run: What does it actually mean? We rounded up some of the best minds and biggest names in foreign policy, history and economics to tell us: What are the consequences of the Brexit vote five months from now (on Election Day in America) — and five years from now?

Some of them think the Brexit vote is a sign of the sun setting on Europe. “Brexit could be a wake-up call, or it could be 1933 all over again,” says Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute. Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, is more optimistic, saying that Brexit would set Europe “back on a path of high employment and healthy growth.” As for it’s effect on the U.S. presidential election? “Brexit will have as much impact on American politics as Obama’s trip to the United Kingdom had on the Brexit referendum: zero,” writes Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group.

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