BREXIT: ORIGINS AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

Brexit and the election of Donald Trump both seem to originate from a deep dissatisfaction with globalization and what it seemingly represents. The growing discontent against the rapid growth of global goods, services, capital and labor began during the third wave of globalization in 1979/80. This cumulated into a full blown backlash against globalization in the aftermath of 2007/08 global financial and economic crisis. The then combustible mix of historic disruptions to the flow of capital in the U.S. (and partly the UK) and the unchecked growing income gaps in the West erupted when the global immigration crisis began to unfold. This chapter further stipulates that the third wave of globalization may have run its course and that the world is entering a new fourth wave, possibly marking the beginning of a period of a reversal of multilateralism and regionalism in favor of bilateralism, and of further restrictions on immigration and labor mobility.