Post-Brexit Trade (re)Negotiations: Geopolitical Implications for India, UK and EU
Benjamin Duke and Saumya Tewari
Publication: Volume 5 Issue 2
Abstract | International relations for the UK are set to change fundamentally. The nation is amidst the process of renegotiating trade relationships with the remaining EU member states and the world. This paper discusses one aspect of the changing geopolitical relationships caused by Brexit: new trade negotiations with Commonwealth countries. Having chosen to leave the EU brings the UK to a critical juncture geopolitically. The new trade relations trajectory is still to be set. The beginnings of the de-colonisation process changed trade ties for the British state in the 20th century. And the UK again looks towards the former colonies for trade. The UK’s post-Brexit geopolitical relations provide an ever-evolving framework for researchers who study global trade ties. The UK and Indian perspectives are considered in this paper to interpret the new landscape of the UK’s trade relationships. A postcolonial lens is employed in the paper for the critical review of ongoing post-Brexit trade relations with Commonwealth countries. In doing so, the paper delivers a comparative case study, describing the developmental benefits India may receive from new UK trade relations after Brexit. It argues that India’s trade relationship with the UK will be uncertain, whilst its position with the EU27 may strengthen.
Key words | Post-Brexit, Trade Negotiations, Colonialism, Geopolitics, UK, India, Commonwealth Countries
Benjamin Duke (bd158@leicester.ac.uk) holds a PhD in Social Policy (2017) from Keele University, United Kingdom (UK). He works for University of Leicester, in the Institute for Inclusivity in Higher Education (ULIIHE); and has previously worked for the University of Nottingham, in the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, UK (2021); University College London, UK on the Global Disability Innovation Hub (2020); University of Northampton UK, on the BAME higher education attainment gap project (2020); University of Nottingham UK, in the Centre for Research in Race and Rights (2019).
Saumya Tewari (tewari.saumya@gmail.com) holds a PhD in Development Studies (2020) from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. She is an early career researcher, Honorary Fellow with the Centre for Multilevel Federalism, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi; and member of the Advisory Board at the Forum for Global Studies, New Delhi. She teaches Political Science and has worked as policy analyst and writer for IndiaSpend, a data journalism initiative. Her research interests include gender, public policy, political economy reforms and comparative politics.