And now for something not completely different. With our midterms behind us, and possibly the end of the beginning of our political nightmare, I finally feel ready to do some work on the other English-speaking political mess: Brexit 1/
Lots to talk about, but right now I'm thinking about the huge sticking point created by the Irish border 2/ globalnews.ca/news/4666515/i…
This sounds like a strange issue to crop up. But actually the Irish border issue resonates deeply with the history of the European project, showing that the concerns that created that project remain relevant today 3/
European integration really began with the Coal and Steel Community, whose goal was to create an interdependent industry sprawling across the Franco-German border. This wasn't just about efficiency; it was also about peace 4/ bbc.com/news/business-…
The idea was that integrating a key industry across borders would create a mutual dependence that would prevent any future war. And that's been a running theme for the EU ever since 5/
And here's the thing: the Irish border illustrates the same logic in miniature. Northern Ireland had a terrible history of discrimination and violent opposition; there was a time when IRA bombings were almost routine 6/
A key part of the settlement was the assurance that the border with the Republic of Ireland would stay wide open under EU rules, allowing Irish Catholics free access to their community to the south. It was about using economic integration to assure peace. And it worked 7/
Now the government in Westminster is trying to throw up barriers to the rest of Europe -- but it doesn't want to unravel the peace in Ireland. And it's not having much success reconciling these goals. In a way, this reaffirms the EU's mission -- but it also shows the UK mess 8/
