BREXIT : What Does It Mean for Regional Integration and South Asia?

On June 23, 2016, the people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (UK) — mostly those residing in England and Wales — held a referendum that resulted in an overall vote to leave the European Union (EU). This so called ‘BREXIT', a fusionist portmanteau of the words ‘Britain' and ‘exit', properly coined on the pattern of GREXIT (referring to the potential exit of Greece from the EU), clearly indicates that the European project of regional integration reached a pivotal moment in time. There is no doubt, that BREXIT will have significant impact on the economic and political trajectories of Great Britain, the EU, and on the relations of Europe with the rest of the world. It will be argued here, that, while the withdrawal of the Britons from the Union is an extraordinarily unfortunate occurrence, it will not fundamentally change the future of EU and the principles it is build-on. It should rather be interpreted as a clear signal that allows the union to reassess prevailing problems that have accumulated over the last decades, in doing so the EU will be well equipped to handle upcoming challenges