“Brexit, the drawn-out British move to leave the European Union”

Brexit collectively refers to the withdrawal of Britain from the European Union. The

main event “”Brexit” took place on 31st Jan, 2020. The withdrawal was thereby supported

by the voters such that majority voters voted in favor of this particular move. The poll

went by 52-48% where 52% voted in favor and the remaining didn’t. However, this a

particular scenario also had positive as well as a negative impact on the market such that

currency rates were affected and questions arose regarding the working of Brexit (Riley,

2016). After the poll results, Prime Minister of the UK resigned from his position and

Theresa May took his post who also negotiated about the exit of the Britain from the EU.

After these uncertain events that took place, a transition period took place of about 11

months and it was stated that in December 2020 all the areas shall be defined about

financial services, safety standards etc. that these contracts have to be finished (Hutton,

2020). Afterwards, a pact was reached out by the Europe and UK such that an agreement

was signed and approved regarding the trade deal which had to take place. This trade deal

was termed as TCA “Trade and Cooperation Agreement.” It was approved by the

officials and took place on the 1st of January as of 2021.

The members/state actors for the European Union include Germany, France, Poland,

Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Romania, Denmark, Portugal, Belgium,

Greece Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Finland, Croatia etc. making up a total of 27

members. Moreover, Brexit has also been highly influenced by players like Boris
Johnson, David Frost, Theresa May, Michael Barnier, Kier Stormier, Charles Michel,

Ursula von der Leyen etc.

In my opinion, Brexit is best explained by the theory of realism. The theory states the

aspects of the international relations such that national interests play a key role in

providing knowledge about an interest that all nations are motivated as a result of that.

When, the poll went in favor of the withdrawal it is one of the most un-predictive event at

that time. Being considerate about that particular aspect it at first seemed as if it was

more like a nationalist based review but in reality it was a lot more related to realism.

However, Pauline (2019) in his thesis and research findings “British Foreign Policy in the

Context of Brexit: Realism or Irrationality? The Return to Realism?” have concluded the

findings that is it really related to realism or not. In his particular findings an empirical

study was carried in order to conclude a result from the provided data (Schnapper, 2019).

This data unveiled a lot of new mysteries that claimed many hidden facts which were not

at all known by them. Being considerate about the findings, it was first found out that the

first category was old and young individuals. Old aged individuals voted in favor of

Brexit whereas young aged individuals didn’t. The second study was regarding the cities

i.e. rural and urban towns. So, urban cities voted in favor whereas rural cities were

against it. The third study was carried on between individuals possessing higher and

secondary education. Higher education individuals voted in favor of EU whereas

secondary education individuals voted to leave. Thus, the voting gave rise to uncertainty

while being considerate about the “British Foreign Policy.” Conclusively, the withdrawal
of Britain from the European Union is best explained by Realism. It is because of the fact

that the theory enlightens the UK politicians and governors to carefully consider facts in

case of any uncertainty encouraging them to hold reality as their center of prediction and

judgement for any future proceedings.

References
Hutton, R. (2020). The Roots of Brexit. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/will-uk-
leave-eu

Riley, A. (2016). The European Causes of the Brexit Vote. Brexit: Causes and Consequences. Retrieved
from https://www.cidob.org/publicaciones/serie_de_publicacion/notes_internacionals/
n1_159/brexit_causes_and_consequences

Schnapper, P. (2019). British Foreign Policy in the Context of Brexit: Realism or Irrationality?: The Return
to Realism? Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326814676_British_Foreign_Policy_in_the_Context_
of_Brexit_Realism_or_Irrationality_The_Return_to_Realism