Brexit in its Worldwide Aspect: An Opportunity to be Grasped

Abstract

The article looks at the implications of Brexit for Britain and its place in the world. It considers how effective Britain can be in utilising its diplomacy, its trade links, and the application of soft power to secure its interests post-Brexit. The article concludes with an assessment of the possible role of the Commonwealth in assisting Britain going forward. However, in order for positive outcomes to be achieved both in regard to the Commonwealth and Brexit more generally, Britain must persuade its international partners of the merits of the new forms of cooperation being suggested, but also for the people of Britain to shape proactively the future direction of the country.

Key Words:

• Brexit
• European Union
• Commonwealth
• referendum
• soft power

Acknowledgement

By no means for the first time the author wishes to thank the Assistant Editor for her help in the preparation of this article. Responsibility for the content is, of course, his alone.

Notes

1. Charles Grant (2016) Theresa May and her six-pack of difficult deals, 28 July, http://www.cer.org.uk/insights/theresa-may-and-her-six-pack-difficult-deals.

2. The principal campaign publication Vote Leave, Take Control is almost entirely taken up with criticism of the EU, and with the benefits Britons would derive from leaving. No interests are considered but our own.

3. See ‘Remembering our year of anniversaries, 2015’, to be published in a forthcoming issue of The Round Table.

4. At a meeting in Clarens, Switzerland, organised by the American Friends Service Committee, August 1957.

5. Report Presented by the Government to Parliament Pursuant to Section 6 of the European Union Referendum Act, 2015, February 2016.

6. Professor Nye’s writings on the subject are numerous. See, in particular, ‘Public diplomacy and soft power’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616(1), 2008, pp. 94–109. His suggestion that he is a victim of British soft power on account of having been a Rhodes Scholar should be treated with reserve. The House of Lords Select Committee on Soft Power and the UK’s Influence, under the chairmanship of Lord Howell, published Persuasion and Power in the Modern World (HL Paper 150, March 2014). The government’s response is in Cm 8879, June 2014.

7. The committee was set up in accordance with the recommendations of the House of Lords Liaison Committee (HL Paper 47, October 2015).

8. I was the first senior British diplomat to join the Commonwealth Secretariat. Mrs Thatcher did not conceal her lack of enthusiasm for the idea.

9. Because of a typographical error, ‘referendum’ appeared on the screen in one instance as ‘reverendum’. Perhaps this puts the matter in appropriate perspective.

10. The present state of play within both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party can scarcely be regarded as evidence of the superiority of Parliamentary democracy.