Politics
Can Britain Measure Up Without the EU?
Leavers promise renewed British grandeur, but the harsh reality of Brexit may leave it diminished.
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Its imperial heyday is long over, but the legacy of Britain’s global trading network endures. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, the bollards of the Puerto Madero waterfront in Buenos Aires, India’s arterial railway network, and other key pieces of international infrastructure were all designed, engineered, or manufactured by the United Kingdom.
The residual national memory of that era was a powerful motivational tool for those who advocated for the Leave side in 2016’s Brexit referendum. Ditch the collective sovereignty of the European Union, they argued, and you’d reestablish Britain’s special place in the world economy.