Author Archive

Paul C. Irwin

Dr Paul C. Irwin is Director of Graduate Studies at the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, and Departmental Lecturer in the International Relations of China. He is co-author with John Farnell of a new book entitled The Politics of EU-China Economic Relations: An Uneasy Partnership published by Palgrave Macmillan.

The decision of the United Kingdom (UK) to leave the European Union (EU) in the referendum of June 23rd 2016 has reverberations well beyond Europe as a political and economic shock of substantial proportions. The future relationship of China, both with the remaining member states of the EU and with the UK, is one example of how a domestic political decision is having global ramifications as change ripples through the international system. Overarching any analysis about the impact of Brexit must be a sense of caution about what still remains unknown over the shape of future policy outcomes. Two cross-cutting factors are particularly important: the first is a legal and political one – what will the resulting settlement between the …