In the United Kingdom a majority could vote in June to leave the European Union. In the United States, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate is Donald Trump.
Britain out of the EU? President Trump? To express incredulity is not a political judgment. Until a few weeks ago, what many viewed as outlandish ‘unthinkables’ were not even being considered or investigated as part of corporate or political risk assessments. Now they have to be.
The challenge from such unforeseen developments fits a new and threatening pattern for leaders at the highest levels. Little over a year ago, even the possibility of a massive humanitarian surge to challenge the EU’s borders and Europe’s governing elite seemed inconceivable.
The EU was focusing on saving the euro. Political leaders and their officials dismissed warnings from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration as too extreme to be taken seriously.
