Get the full 31-page report here: https://goo.gl/44MW6m This report details the lead-up to and the implications of the June 23 British referendum to leave the European Union.

1. The Story of
Brexit
Carl Court/Getty Images

2. The Story of Brexit
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How a Brexit Would Undermine
Europe’s Balance of Power
Brexit: Britain’s Call Options
The Trouble With Europe
What to Expect After the Brexit
The EU Britain Will Leave Behind
What Brexit Means for the World
Reflections on the Referendum
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3. 3STRATFOR •
How A Brexit Would
Undermine Europe’s
Balance Of Power
B
ritain’s approaching referendum has led to
rampant speculation about the economic and
financial consequences of a vote to leave the
European Union. And indeed, in the wake of a Brexit,
uncertainty — the archenemy of economic growth
and financial stability — would abound. But if Brit-
ain withdraws from the Continental bloc, its primary
effect would be geopolitical, shaking the balance of
power in Europe to its very foundation and forcing the
bloc to rethink its role in the world.
The Franco-German alliance is the cornerstone on
which European power dynamics rest. Conflict be-
tween the two drove three Continental wars between
1870 and 1945; its resolution facilitated peace after
World War II, planting the seeds of eventual integra-
tion through the European Union. But France and
Germany are not the only countries shaping Europe’s
course. A third actor plays the role of power broker
between the two, stabilizing their relationship and, by
extension, the Continent: the United Kingdom.
When France and West Germany founded the Eu-
ropean Economic Community (EEC), the European
Union’s predecessor, in the 1950s, they had two goals.
The first was to create a political and economic struc-
ture that would bind the two states together, reducing
the chances of another war breaking out in Europe.
A British postal voting form for the European Union referendum. (CHRISTO-
PHER FURLONG/Getty Images)