The United Kingdom’s post-Brexit ordering vision

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU) marked a major change in the United Kingdom’s global role and position. Leaving behind the EU also raised questions concerning the UK’s potentially changing world view and aspirations towards the international order. While the UK governments have prioritised the management of the negative economic impact and political challenges related to Brexit, they have also aimed to clarify the country’s emerging global posture. Relying on existing literature, this chapter discusses the UK’s vision and approach to the international order prior to announcing the EU renegotiation and referendum in 2014. It is suggested that even if the United Kingdom was predominantly seen as an awkward and reluctant EU member state, the EU was instrumental for the UK’s aspiration to advance its regional and global interests and strengthen the liberal world order. The chapter will then analyse change and continuity in the UK’s international ordering vision propelled by Brexit. In doing so, the chapter will focus on materials produced by UK governments and the related political debates after the EU referendum. A particular focus will be placed on the vision of Global Britain articulated in 2017, which has gradually been given more and more substance. Analytically, the chapter is organised on examining the normative, distributional and institutional dimensions of the United Kingdom’s emerged world-ordering view in conjunction with and after Brexit.