Financial Times: The Fatal Attraction of a No-Deal Brexit

Great Britain’s deadline for arranging a deal with the European Union is March 29 and analysts anticipate disruptions including shortages of certain foods and supplies as well as new tariffs and confusion over regulations. Gideon Rachman describes three groups for the Financial Times: Hardliners relishing the notion of self-reliance regardless of costs, Remainers hoping for chaos that prompts an extension for negotiations and possibly a change of heart, and the European Commission does not want to compromise on basic principles of the single market. “In their refusal to compromise they risk jointly unleashing a dangerous crisis, whose endgame they can neither predict nor control,” he writes, adding he expects the EU and Britain to gradually rebuild ties. Otherwise, “A bitter rift between the EU and the UK would … be geopolitical madness at a time when Europe is under mounting pressure from Russia, China and the Trump administration in Washington.” Compromise is needed with seven months left to complete a Brexit deal. – YaleGlobal