Abstract
When the majority of UK citizens voted to exit the EU almost nobody could tell the main impact of the most important event in global politics in the beginning of the 21st century. Two years after the referendum none is sure what exactly Brexit means, especially on the relationship the UK will have with EU in the future. The UK invoked the Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and until 1 January 2021 there will be a transition period which is necessary for both parts to prepare and strike their own new trade deals. What lessons can a modern political thought learn from antiquity? According to Thucydides, the inventor of political science, and theorist of political and financial autonomy, there might be a new set of ways of thinking and values, for both UK’s major political parties. Through his political view of the cultural and institutional explanation of the democratic Athenian paradigm we could find some of the fundamentals of the first known democracy in the world and transfer them to our times. How could an observer conceive the risks and the opportunities of the future UK role after Brexit putting Thucydides’ theory into praxis? What is the relationship between modern UK politics decisions with the strategies of Pericles, Cleon, and Alcibiades, during the Peloponnesian War?
 
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Highlights
Since British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was London’s Mayor he used to speak of the value of the classics in understanding modern politics, having written a book comparing the European Union with the Roman Empire (Rohrer, 2008 May, 13)
In case of Brexit could the modern political thinking draw any significant lessons from the classical historian and the inventor of political science Thucydides? Are there any similarities or analogies between the meaning of the speeches of the leaders and generals of Peloponnesian War and the positions of major political parties in the UK today?
Readers of this paper should keep in mind that the authors are not in favor of Brexiteers or Remainers; on the contrary, we aim to evaluate the intention of Brexit agents and their results, through the validity of Thucydides’ logic, as anticipating some key ideas of democratic procedures in order to contribute to the dialogue about the future of EU and UK capacity
Summary
Since British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was London’s Mayor he used to speak of the value of the classics in understanding modern politics, having written a book comparing the European Union with the Roman Empire (Rohrer, 2008 May, 13). It is known that the predecessor of the present economic and political Union of 28 European countries was the European Economic Community (EEC), created in 1958 as a community of six countries: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands Their governments decided to foster their economic cooperation, in the aftermath of World War II. The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had previously spent the Referendum campaign talking about ‘Project Fear’ as the tactic used by those wishing to remain in the EU, his advocacy of the study of classics suggests he was well aware of lessons from Greek and Roman history (Rohrer, 2008 May, 13). How fair is such a comparison? A comparison between the tussles of modern-day Greece and Britain with the EU seems a good starting point which arguably sets the scene for where the UK stands
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