Britian's Withdrawal from the European Union: Security and Defense Implications for the United Kingdom

Abstract

In a historic decision on 23 June 2016, a majority of those voting in a referendum as to whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union or leave chose withdrawal. The process of British withdrawal from the EU, popularly known as Brexit, has defense and security ramifications. While Brexit has not changed the composition or activities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the EU-specific collective security and defense institutions face significant changes, largely unstudied, when Britain becomes a third country vis--vis the EU. This thesis analyzes alternative options for the post-Brexit EU-UK security and defense relationship. After assessing several models, it concludes that the most advantageous option for the UK is to establish bilateral, trilateral, or multilateral relations with privileged EU member states while also supporting close and extensive EU-NATO cooperation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2020
Accession Number
AD1126917

Entities

People

  • Brian Hansen

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • California
  • Crisis Management
  • European Union
  • Foreign Policy
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Information Exchange
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • International Security
  • National Security
  • Nato
  • Treaties
  • United States

Readers

  • European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies