Difference Between Realism And Brexit

The European world changed forever on June 23rd. The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, and it passed. The 52 to 48 percent vote started a never before seen process that is surely going to have international implications and reactions. Throughout our course we have studied a couple of ideologies surrounding international politics. Through the lens of the realist and liberalist approach we have looked at previous issues to learn their respective teachings. Now I am asked to applying these teachings to a real world event happening as we speak. This essay will start by outlining the differences between the two schools of though on the “Brexit” (BBC). It will then evaluate the strengths and limitations in dealing the Brexit. Lastly I will offer an explanation from both standpoints as to why this majority decision was made. It was valuable to keep in that this event was not sporadic but rather the long term manifestation of discontent with the EU’s system by Great Britain. Before diving directly into the key differences between realist and liberalist approaches to Brexit I feel it is imperative to have a short explanation of the two theories. Realism is an approach that sees world politics as a never ending struggle of states seeking power. The

Realism can be defined simply as maximizing power for your state. Collective international organizations are essentially forgoing some of your personal sovereignty along with other states for a common good. After reading BBC’s article, I now realize that the UK was putting more into the EU than it was getting in return. The EU imposed a plethora of regulations and restriction of business practices and charged the UK billions in pounds for membership fees. The general feeling was that the UK was being held back by the EU financially and politically. The model realist leader would then be in favor of the UK leaving the