How the EU’s Greek Tragedy Became a British Farce

Out-of-Touch Elites Have Themselves to Blame for Losing Voters to "Populism"

British citizens took to the polls to cast their “Leave” ballots—and their grievances—in the now-infamous Brexit vote last June, seeking to escape the overarching power of the European Union. Their triumph stunned British and global elites, but shouldn’t have; the odds were stacked in the Leave camp’s favor.

The groundwork for the Brexit debacle was laid the previous summer when Europe crushed the progressive pro-European SYRIZA government elected in Greece in January 2015. Most Britons were not directly engaged with the Greek trauma. Many surely looked askance at the Greek …

California’s Coming Election Has More in Common With Brexit Than You Think

For a Century, State Politicians Have Relied on Ballot Measures to Achieve Their Political Will, and Come to Rue the Results

Do you think Brexit was a singularly British form of folly, having little to do with California? Think again. California is the global capital of Brexit-style votes, and this …

The Cure for Your #Regrexit Democratic Hangover

For Remorseful Brits and Other Voters Who Found Themselves Uninformed on a Major Decision, Experiments in the Western U.S. Could Solve Ballot Measure Blues

The #Regrexit hashtag encapsulates Britain’s morning-after regrets since a referendum in which nearly 52 percent of voters opted to leave the European Union. A Daily Mail poll estimates that more …

Brexit Succeeded by Playing to Britons’ Imperial Nostalgia

Searching to Become “Great” Again, British Voters Ignored Their Empire’s More Recent History

Shortly after the result of Britain’s referendum on the European Union was declared last week, an academic colleague remarked to me, “the final curse of the empire is that the …

The U.K. Has Already Opted Out of the ‘Ever Closer Union’ With Europe

But the British May Yet Remain in an EU That Is More Democratic and Stops Obsessing About the Single Currency

On June 23, British citizens will be asked, “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?”

On the surface, this would seem to …

‘Brexit’ Is a Losing Game

Beyond Global Influence, National Security, and Economic Opportunity, the United Kingdom Would Lose Its Ability to Look Beyond Itself

In 1975, the United Kingdom voted on quitting Europe for the first time—just two years after it had joined the European Economic Community. A flip in power from the pro-European …