In the U.K. Elections, a Post-Brexit Internationalist Vision Comes Into Focus

In the U.K. Elections, a Post-Brexit Internationalist Vision Comes Into Focus
Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May, takes part in a general election broadcast, London, May 29, 2017 (pool photo by Stefan Rousseau via AP).

Is there any reason to feel good about this year’s miserable British election campaign? The process has been messy, cantankerous and punctuated by appalling acts of terrorism. With the opposition Labour party unexpectedly gaining ground on the ruling Conservatives, it is possible that this Thursday’s poll will leave Great Britain looking even more confused, less united and less consequential on the global stage.

Liberal internationalists should nonetheless take a soupcon of comfort from this rather poor exercise in democracy. Despite the storm of Brexit, the campaign has at least for now defused fears that the United Kingdom could renege on its long-standing commitment to international cooperation and multilateral institutions. All the main parties seem determined to preserve or boost Britain’s internationalist tradition.

This was by no means guaranteed after last year’s Brexit referendum. Although that vote focused solely on Britain’s position in the European Union, the vote to leave seemed symptomatic of a much broader rejection of internationalism. “Overseas humanitarian and development spending is in an even more perilous position,” Manuel Lafont Rapnouil and I warned soon after the referendum. “Many of the politicians, newspapers and voters who backed Brexit think spending money on poor foreigners is a waste.”

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