Brexit and the limits of regional integration

THE success of “Out” in the June 30 referendum held by the United Kingdom on its membership in the European Union has been widely labeled a historic mistake committed by an elderly, possibly senile generation. The majority of voters in the said democratic exercise, it has been said, has been misled by Brexit promoters feeding on fears among incipient or closet racists of a massive invasion of likely terrorists disguised as refugees from the Middle East and Africa (and forgetting to mention that some of the terrorists who bombed the London Underground and beheaded reporters or missionaries in the Middle East were British conceived, born, and bred).

Some political scientists have decried the carelessness of the referendum framers in failing to require a greater, two-thirds or three-fourths, majority of voters on such a vital question. Millions have filed an online petition for a second referendum, claiming that the turnout and voting outcome were below even the numbers set by the referendum rules.