TEHRAN – Nader Entessar, a professor of political science at South Alabama University, tells the Tehran Times that “it is too early to project the impact of the United Kingdom's exit from the EU on the integrity of trans-European unity.”

In a report on its website, Reuters said Britain's decision to leave the EU is the biggest blow since World War Two to the European project of forging greater unity. The United Kingdom itself could also now break apart, with the nationalist leader of Scotland, where nearly two-thirds of voters wanted to stay in the EU, saying a new referendum on independence from the rest of Britain was "highly likely", Reuters said.

Entessar also says, “The relative success that we witnessed in the early years of the European integration was largely due to the fact that it included countries with similar levels of economic development and compatible sociopolitical outlook.”  
 
Following is the text of the interview:

Q: What are the domestic implications of Britain’s exit from the EU?

A: The vote in favor of leaving the EU is probably the most important development in British politics in the past 50 years.  Domestically, Britain will become more inward looking and insular, both psychologically and politically.

Q: What will be the result of Britain’s departure from the EU on Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland?
 
A: I think this will strengthen nationalist sentiments in the constituent parts of the United Kingdom and will boost the fortunes of political parties like the Scottish Nationalist Party and Sinn Fein which have long championed the interests of Scotland and Ireland, respectively, over the British interests.  Of course, the unity of the United Kingdom is not in danger at this time, but the long-term implication of Great Britain's exit from the EU could affect the viability of the United Kingdom as it stands today.

Q: The vote to quit the EU has inflamed similar feelings in countries such as France and the Netherlands. How do you assess this move? 

A: It is too early to project the impact of the United Kingdom's exit from the EU on the integrity of trans-European unity.  But, it is possible that anti-EU dissenting voices in countries like France and the Netherlands will become louder and these countries may be forced to hold referenda to determine their own future status in the EU.

Q: Can Britain’s exit from the union be interpreted as the failure of Ernst Haas's theory of neofunctionalism at least at regional level?

A: Although Ernst Haas's theory of neofunctionalism assumed that the growing economic interdependence at the regional level will have positive spillover effects in other areas of regional integration, the history of the European integration has demonstrated that the supranational neoliberal market rules have not been able to overcome national obstacles to genuine integration.  Also, we should not forget that the expansion of the European Union membership resulted in bringing to the EU countries that were economically weak and became an economic and social burden to the EU.  The relative success that we witnessed in the early years of the European integration was largely due to the fact that it included countries with similar levels of economic development and compatible sociopolitical outlook.