The Panic of 2008 and Brexit: Regional Integration versus Nationalism

Abstract

In June 23, 2016, voters in the United Kingdom have just approved a referendum calling for leaving the European Union. The case describes the motives for European integration, the rise of separatist movements in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and the referendum process itself. The purpose of this case is to provide a contemporary counterpoint to a discussion of the economic and political motivations for the American Civil War. Dominant themes highlighted here are economic nationalism, political nationalism, cultural centrism and ethnocentrism, and populism. Excerpt UVA-F-1791 Rev. Oct. 17, 2019 The Panic of 2008 and Brexit: Regional Integration versus Nationalism [The] rise in nationalism is a global trend, and one of three critical consequences of the 2008 financial crisis that will play a pivotal role in shaping geopolitics in 2017. (The other two are economic stagnation and instability in export-dependent countries.) Its rise stems from the rejection of the internationalist model that has dominated international relations since the end of World War II. In places like Europe, it is easy to see why internationalism is losing favor. It is less obvious for the US. The European Union (EU) put in place policies and regulations that prioritized the Union's survival over national interests, and this inherently creates conflicts of interest between the bloc and member states. This was exacerbated by the 2008 financial crisis. Member countries saw their economies crash while their hands remained tied by Brussels, which was slow to act and offered a narrow range of Band-Aid solutions. George Friedman and Allison Fedirka The Brexit vote was a triple protest: against surging immigration, City of London bankers, and European Union institutions, in that order. . . .