I'm hearing many people (on all sides...) saying that even if the UK were to want to rejoin the EU, the EU wouldn't have the UK back. That set me thinking; let me know what you think of this... 1/
My question is how quickly do states gain, or lose, their reputation; how quickly are the sins of ex-governments forgotten? In all states, the politics fluctuates. Some leaders/govts do good, some do bad. 2/
How far, and how fixedly, have attitudes to the US changed when Trump replaced Obama as President? How quickly might they change again? 3/
In the 'rejoin the EU' context, things are of course more complicated because 'the EU' is a complex institutional construct. Leaving that to one side... 4/
To what extent do attitudes to particular states (eg the UK; also Poland and Hungary) differ/exist independently of the current govts? And if so what are they based on, and how fixed are they? 5/
My guess is that there is a tension between those taking a short- and a longer-term view. And that new Govts may be able to change things more quickly than many imagine. 6/6
This was prompted by yesterday's @davidallengreen thread, and @robert_busch65's response. @redhistorian @APHClarkson @jonworth @Usherwood?
