15 May 2016

Financial Times: What Brexit means for defence and diplomacy

The debate over Brexit is primarily driven by arguments over economics and migration. But the implications for foreign and security policy cannot be ignored. If the British people vote to leave the bloc at the referendum on June 23, their decision will have a profound impact on the UK’s diplomatic standing. For the Leave camp, withdrawal would mean that Britain can walk tall in the world again; for the Remain side, it would diminish the country’s status irreparably. [...]

The EU’s foreign policy record is far from unblemished. It failed to halt the civil war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. It has been unable to craft a common policy towards China — leaving the UK, France and Germany jostling for commercial preference. Its inability to reach out to its Middle Eastern and North African neighbourhood has been widely lamented. But the Leave campaign’s proposition that the EU acts as a deadweight on UK foreign policy is fundamentally flawed.

As an EU member state, Britain still retains considerable diplomatic sovereignty. Its defence and intelligence relationship with the US has not been compromised. [...]

Europe’s role in intelligence co-operation has a direct bearing on UK national security. Leave campaigners argue that the UK’s membership of the “Five Eyes” — Britain, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — is more important than its place in the EU. But all those nations want Britain to stay in the bloc because it deepens intelligence co-operation across the west. After the Edward Snowden revelations, it is of great importance that the UK remains part of the EU debate on the balance between privacy and security in data-sharing. If Britain were to withdraw, that balance could tilt towards the privacy side of the argument in ways that would be damaging for the UK and Europe. [...]

Brexit would not only mean the UK turning its back on this immense legacy. The departure of the EU’s second-largest economy would be a severe blow to the bloc, one that could lead to the unravelling of the entire EU structure. It is hard to understand how this could be in Britain’s interests.

Europe is today confronted by the rise of China, the resurgence of Russia and growing conflict across the Middle East. The US is shifting attention towards Asia, looking to Europe to shoulder more of its regional security responsibilities. Britain should want Europe to be a strong first line of defence, not a continent in chaos.

The EU is an imperfect force in foreign affairs. But the last thing the west needs is the emergence of pirate Britain, buccaneering offshore with its back to the world. Brexit would damage Europe and that can only be bad for the British.

© Financial Times