Lipscomb's Marc Schwerdt sheds light on Brexit
Lacey Klotz |
It was hard to miss that on Friday, June 24, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, a union of European countries, in a historic referendum.
Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron, encouraged the country to remain as a part of the union, however, the “leave” campaign won with 52 percent 
of the state’s vote and ultimately led to Cameron announcing plans to step down from his six-year tenure as prime minister.
So what does this mean for the United States?
For one thing, traveling to Britain should be cheaper, said Lipscomb’s Marc Schwerdt, professor of history and politics, who has focused on international relations and American politics as areas of his academic expertise.
“These are a bit of uncharted waters because no one has ever withdrawn from the EU before,” said Schwerdt. “However, I think this is largely about the domestic politics of Great Britain, more so than making a huge statement about the EU in general.
“Great Britain was never as invested in the EU, as a lot of the other members were. It never used of the Euro; it kept its own currency. It was also never part of the Schengen Agreement, so it never had open borders like the other EU nations.”
Schwerdt says the results of the referendum can be both positive and negative for those who want to travel to the United Kingdom.
“The pound will go down in value verses the dollar, initially, so therefore going to Britain should be cheaper,” he said. “Also, if you are going to Europe and Great Britain, now you may need an additional visa, because you can’t just switch over from a European visa to a British visa.”
One initial result of the vote for Britain to leave the European Union was the U.S. stock market’s plummet, said Schwerdt.
“Seeing how well the market adapts shows that people are saying this is something we can live with,” said Schwerdt. “We’ve seen drops of 500 points in the stock market for things that seem less earth shattering.
“As far as Great Britain's economy, is it going to send it into a depression? No. Is it possible it will send it into a recession? Certainly. That will be because you are going to see a lot of things change in terms of trade between the continent and Europe, and also between Europe and some of its other trading partners.”
Of the negative ramifications, uncertainty may be the worst.
“Europe is heavily invested in Britain, so as we go through this uncertainty and turmoil, certainly there are negatives to this,” he said. “There is no way I would’ve predicted this, but I think it’s going to set the tone for what’s going to happen in Europe from now on.”
Schwerdt said that although this was a stunning referendum, this was a non-binding referendum, and there is still a two-year process ahead.
“Britain has to go through a lot of votes, a lot of changes, and the next parliamentary election will make it clearer whether they will go through with it or not,” he said.
“This was a very close race, with the vote being 52 to 48 percent. If there is not as good a turnout for those who advocated for Brexit in the parliamentary election, then whoever is elected to be prime minister may not be a ‘leave’ person; they may be a ‘remain’ person. So this is a non-binding referendum.”