The Impact of Brexit on European Security: Rationale for Post-Brexit EU-UK Security Cooperation

• Authors : Doo-Jin Kim
• Journal : Zeitschrift der Koreanisch-Deutschen Gesellschaft fuer Sozialwissenschaften
• Publisher : K-G Association For Social Sciences
• Volume : 29(1)
• Publication Date : March, 2019
• Abstract :The UK has traditionally played an ambivalent role in European security and defence policy-making. With Brexit, the EU might lose one of its two serious military players. The Brexit also raises questions about the future relationship between the US and the United Kingdom. Over the short-to medium term Brexit will make the UK less valuable as a diplomatic and economic partner to the US. The EU is unlikely to afford the UK a strong role in the formulation of its security policy. In the face of US President Trump’s ambivalence towards NATO, some authors have suggested Brexit will not negatively impact either the UK’s ability to continue to work with its European security partners. The Franco-British relationship is often mentioned as a possibility. Under new post-Brexit circumstances, NATO may act as a bridge between Brussels and London, and become a platform for cooperation. The British perspective assumes that Britain should seize the opportunity to recast its role on the world stage and forge a foreign policy independent of both the US and the EU.