British Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to have a ‘clean' Brexit will give the United Kingdom freedom in striking trade deals, said John Chipman, director general and chief executive at advisory firm International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Chipman, who advises a host of countries and companies including Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), said this gives the United Kingdom the option to negotiate its own free-trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and individual states, without having to abide by the conditions set by the EU for even partial partners.
The exit process will take two years and a transition period will follow, giving the British government enough space and time to cushion the blow, Chipman told BloombergQuint's Menaka Doshi on the sidelines of the 47th World Economic Forum at Davos.
I am sure the U.K. will get some knocks from this process, but the fact that there is now a 12-point plan which looks to have a relatively clean Brexit with assurance that we will not be following off the edge, I think that gives a possibility for some economic stability going forward.John Chipman On Brexit
The Donald Trump Regime
Europe is more bothered about the new U.S. President Donald Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin, says Chipman, who believes Russia may not violate the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance explicitly but will use covert methods like cyber-threat to corner Europe, especially its East European neighbours.
In Europe, there is real concern about Putin's advances and the ways he's threatening Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, or at least posturing and his aim to unravel the European Union.John Chipman On Russian President Vladimir Putin
Trump has also been critical of the nuclear non-proliferation deal with Iran, which was inked in 2016, arguing that the U.S. may have got a raw deal in the entire process, and while he has been threatening to strike down the deal, “we have to watch what he does and not what he says”, said Chipman. The other signatories like the European Union, Russia and China would not want the agreement to be nullified.
Iran deal was an international agreement, backed by the United Nations Security Council, so it won'tbe so easy for the new U.S. President to not let this agreement run its course.John Chipman On The Iran Deal
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The Rise Of Right-Wing Factions Within Europe
Two crucial members within the European Union, France and Germany, go to polls later in 2017, and right-wing factions have become increasingly vocal in both the states, but Chipman believes it won't be so easy to beat German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Rise Of Radicalisation
The Islamic State Of Iraq And The Levant (ISIL) has been cornered in the Middle East in recent months, but its factions and arms have been cropping up across the world, specially in South East Asia and countries with relatively weak governments in power. Chipman said this trend, coupled with the rise of self-radicalisation and the use of the internet to spread hatred, is something that needs to be contained as soon as possible, if the perils of terrorism have to be done away with.
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