In a high-stakes decision, Britain voted to leave the European Union, triggering domestic and international uncertainty over what might happen to the western bloc, the continental trade and larger political alliances.
The United States had badly wanted London to remain in the EU as an influential voice in Brussels and a vital partner on a range of economic, political and security issues facing Europe, Washington and the world at large.
As Friday dawned, the world capitals learnt that a divided UK had voted by 52% to 48% in a referendum to say goodbye to its association with the European Union after 43 years.
The markets reacted to the development – watershed for the winners and pro-Brexit voters and retrogressive for the progressives – negatively, with the pound falling to its lowest level since 1985.
For Britain and its ruling Conservative leaders the vote came as a shock as David Cameroon had campaigned for Britain to remain a part of the EU on account of several reasons.
On the European and broader global levels, the British verdict was seen as a setback to globalizing interconnected economies, as well as liberal politics believing in multiculturalism and pluralism Talent drawn from diverse backgrounds, as in the United States, has been stimulating innovation and growth in modern information technologies.
On the other hand, voters favoring the UK’s exit from the EU , offered their arguments particularly on ramifications of immigration, which, they views as costing jobs to the natives and burdening public services.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage proclaimed that the dawn was breaking on an “independent United Kingdom”, and predicted that “this will be a victory for real people”.
Farage’s right-leaning and nationalist policies on major issues like immigration have been controversial with critics calling his views on immigrants as xenophobic.
The British vote times with unrest in some European countries over influx of refugees from the Middle Eastern hotspots and the sudden surge of far right parties that play politics with populist positions and rake up narrow nationalistic sentiment – widely described as exclusionary as against inclusiveness, a hallmark of globalization.
The repercussions of the development could also find transatlantic reverberations in the highly charged political climate in the United States during the election year.
Throughout the primary season, and now in the run up to November 8 election, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has been provoking anti-immigrant views. He has also vowed to build a wall along the Mexican border and enforce a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.
