England should feel the consequences for voting to leave the EU. [View all]

[Meldread]

Voting to leave the EU has the potential to destabilize Europe, and cause the breakup of the EU--as imperfect and as problematic as it is this is not just a problem for economics. The EU has kept the peace and stability in Europe. People forget the very ugly history of Europe, and mistakenly believe that we could never return to that history. Nationalism is always dangerous, and will inevitably lead Europe in this direction.

The only way to hold the EU together now is to make this as punitive as possible for the UK. This will be necessary in order to send a strong message to other nations considering leaving, and if it is bad enough for the UK then it could crush nationalist upsurges in other countries because it kills the "we are better off without them" mentality.

The EU should create a special path for Scotland to join the EU should it choose to leave the UK. It is likely that the majority of Scots would vote to leave the UK if they knew that they would have an easy entry into the EU, and support from the EU in their transition. The EU should also assist Northern Ireland in reunifying with Ireland, and since Ireland is already a EU member, this will grant them entry. This will isolate England, and send the message that needs to be sent: leaving has a price.

The United States should reaffirm our support for the European Union, and work diligently to help hold it together while at the same time encouraging reforms to answer some of the legitimate criticisms leveled at it. We should not negotiate new trade deals with the UK until after they have fully gone through the process of exiting the EU, and untangled themselves from the mess they've put themselves in.

I believe, should Scotland and Northern Ireland be given the chance to leave the UK and join the EU, that the EU should also open the door for England to re-apply and join. However, it would require them to fully integrate into the EU.

This is just sickening. The most powerful nations of the EU contemplate leaving, but not before basically wrecking and destroying the weakest EU countries economies with mandated austerity measures. It is morally appalling to basically destroy nations like Greece, who were basically forced to stay in the union, and then skip out after they are in ruins.

The EU needs a lot of reforms and deeper integration. Hopefully, if there is a silver lining, the UK leaving will prompt those difficult decisions, and the EU could emerge stronger and better as a result.