ASSESSMENTS

Britain's Status as a Trading Nation Ties It to Europe

Sep 4, 2015 | 18:39 GMT

British Prime Minister David Cameron addresses the press at the close of a European Union Summit in Brussels on March 20, 2015.

(THEIR CHARLIER/AFP/Getty Images)

Summary

Editor's Note: This was originally posted as a Geopolitical Weekly.

At some point in the next two years, British voters will decide whether to remain a part of the European Union. This will be the first time Britons have been consulted on the subject since 1975, when 67 percent voted to stay in. If it does decide to leave, the United Kingdom will become the first country to leave the European Union since it was created in 1957. The repercussions would be felt not just in the United Kingdom but also across the Continent and indeed across the world. To predict the eventual result of this vote, it is first important to understand the factors that have kept the United Kingdom in the union this long.

The European Union and the United Kingdom have always made for uncomfortable partners, but the United Kingdom's interests dictate that it must remain in the bloc for the time being....

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