A Canadian author says he predicted the shocking outcome of the Brexit vote in a recent book.
鈥淏rexit has a lot of parallels to the Protestant Reformation, which is the revolution 鈥� political and religious 鈥� that Martin Luther launched 500 years ago next year which broke Europe into Catholic and Protestant halves,鈥� Chris Kutarna told 麻豆传媒 Channel in an interview from Regina on Monday.
鈥淸That] didn鈥檛 tell us that Brexit had to happen, but [it] certainly made it easier for us to imagine that it could happen.鈥�
On June 23, Britons shocked the world by . Borne from the ashes of the Second World War, no country has left the EU since its inception.
In , Kutarna and co-author Ian Goldin explore how history can help us navigate 鈥� and predict 鈥� our turbulent times.
鈥淭he Protestant Reformation, you know, breaking Europe up religiously and politically, it was catastrophic in a number of ways,鈥� the University of Oxford scholar said.
鈥淭here was a silver lining, which is that people suddenly realized in Rome and in other European capitals that this monolithic institution that they had always grown up with, and whose problems they felt were simply too great to be dealt with, could be radically reshaped.鈥�
Despite the tumult across the Atlantic, Kutarna believes that the European Union will continue to exist 鈥� and thrive.
鈥淚 think people waking up this morning in the capitals of Europe, one thing they absolutely do believe now is that the EU can be radically reshaped,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of people still believe that there are positives to be pulled out of a connected and open Europe and it鈥檚 up to them now to demonstrate to the wider European public that those positives are going to reach them.鈥�
