Disruptive Brexit reverberations will be around a long time – even though in the end Britain isn’t likely to leave the EU, not as long as powerful monied interests oppose it.
Confrontation with Russia and/or China would serve the same purpose. So would manufactured economic and financial turmoil, perhaps likely given inflated asset valuations, gold resurfacing as a safe haven.
Crisis focuses public attention away from where power brokers don’t want it to go to where they want it directed. Shock waves work the same way every time. They’ve begun.
Meanwhile, UK and US media commented in the aftermath of Brexit voting. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was quoted, saying the EU must not fall into “depression and paralysis” going forward, adding “(w)e won’t let this Europe be taken away from us.”
On Saturday, founding EU members Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are meeting in Berlin – Steinmeier hosting his counterparts, discussing what’s next after Brits voted for Brexit.
On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will host EU President Donald Tusk, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and French President Francois Hollande – ahead of 27 EU leaders (excluding Britain’s Cameron) meeting in Brussels for two days.
The BBC commented on what other European media said. France’s Le Monde headlined “Brexit wins, the markets fall.”
Weekly news magazine Le Point called Thursday’s vote “an earthquake in Europe.” Le Figaro headlined “the result is irreversible,” quoting Serge Gainsbourg’s song title “je t’aime…moi non plus (I love you…me neither).”
Liberation declared “Europe will never be the same again.” Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said Europe “may be plunged into the worst crisis in its history.” Maybe its editors forgot about WW I and II.
Der Tagesspiegel fears a “worst-case scenario” – a “chain reaction” of other countries following Britain’s lead.
Italy’s La Stampa reported on “24 hours in which the world has changed.” Spain’s El Paos said Brexit “requires reconstruction of the EU,” citing an “accumulation of threats…”
According to La Razon, Thursday’s vote “obliges Brussels to redefine a common project that is now in crisis,” claiming possible “Brexit epidemic.”
The BBC said Brexit “reverberations…are felt beyond Europe.” Ahead of Thursday’s vote, London’s Guardian claimed “running wild risks is not British…The EU referendum is like a vote taking place in another country entirely…”
In the vote’s aftermath, London’s Independent headlined “Britain’s future now hangs in the balance – and unfortunately there’s little room for optimism.”
The London-based Financial Times said “Britain turns its back on Europe…swe(eping) away 50 years of foreign policy,” calling the Brexit vote “a moment of extraordinary political upheaval.”
Anti-Brexit NYT editors criticized Thursday’s vote, saying “(d)efying the warnings of every major economic and political institution in Britain, Europe and the United States, millions of voters across Britain concluded that a gamble on a dangerous unknown was better than staying with a present over which they felt they had lost control.”
Neocon Washington Post editors stressed “(s)topping dark forces in our post-Brexit world,” wondering what’s next for Europe?
The Wall Street Journal said “ ’Brexit’ sen(t) shockwaves across Europe…spark(ing) an immediate political crisis in Britain…”
When all is said and done in the months ahead, Brexit won’t likely happen because powerful interests oppose it.
Thursday’s referendum was non-binding. Parliamentarians representing entrenched interests have final say.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]
His new book as editor and contributor is titled « Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III. »
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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