Wednesday, September 7, 2016 | 2:00pm-3:30pm  | Room 335, HSBC Business School Building

Abstract

On June 23, 2016, the citizens of The United Kingdom voted to approve Brexit: the exiting of Great Britain and the rest of the UK from the European Union. Is Brexit just another step in the long evolution that continues to define the European Union, or is it a critical event that signals the demise of the organization? This presentation summarizes how the European Union came to being and developed since its formal initiation 23 years before the Brexit vote on November 1, 1993. Then, there is an examination of its power and importance from that point up to the Brexit vote. Finally, there is an analysis of the likely short-term and long-term ramifications of the UK preparing to leave and finally leaving the European Union for its two biggest trading partners: the US and China as well as the rest of the world.