Brexit, the idea of going alone, dependent on nothing and no one but the might of Great Britain has its roots in the long history of British exceptionalism. It is driven by the feeling that at some very intrinsic level Britain is superior to her continental neighbours. It's time the Brits got a reality check.

It's worth pointing out that at some point in our history just about all European nations saw themselves as being the ones chosen by God. 17th century Poland at the peak of its golden age saw itself as the guardian of European civilization against the Muslim world, 19th century Austro-Hungarian Empire was to be the ultimate unifying power under whose control innumerable European nations could live in freedom. The French had their Mission Civilisatrice de la France, The Germans went with Sonderweg (special path), while the Tsarist Russia proclaimed itself to be Third Rome

However, all those perceptions were not only totally misguided, but also eventually ravaged by the realities of history. Poland disappeared from the maps for over a century having been partitioned by her neighbours, France watched Bismarck and Hitler march their troops down Champs-Élysées, Russia almost annihilated itself through the chaos of the revolution, Austro-Hungary collapsed under its inherent inefficiency and I won't even mention what happened to Germany. We all in Europe at one point or another found ourselves chewed up and spat out. And it was that very humiliation of finding oneself at the mercy of history, that has successfully rooted out any notion of exceptionalism among us.

The UK however, having been good at not losing wars, never got to taste the bitterness of total defeat. For centuries British politicians have embraced and fostered British exceptionalism and mixed it up with a form of misguided patriotism.

After World War Two, having lost its Empire and been economically dissapated, Britain seemed to be edging towards reconciling itself with its past image. Then in 1982 Argentine junta invaded the Falklands and, to the word’s surprise, Margharet Thatcher responded by sending her whole flotilla across the world to defend the remnants of what used to be a world dominated by the British. “Empire Strikes Back” proclaimed Newsweek as Brits unapologetically cheered for their war machine quashing Johny Foreigner one more time. The war ended with a British victory, but it fuelled a whole generation of Brits with a form of distrust towards anyone who doesn’t happen to be a subject of the Queen.

These toxic misperceptions have been allowed to go on unchallenged for too long.

But with Brexit things are about to change. The British electorate through the slow and painful process of leaving the EU are slowly finding out what’s real and what’s rhetoric. Britain's economy is too small and too intricately linked to the continent in order for the UK to ever find itself standing in the world alone with the likes of US, India or China.

The Brexit dream, however romantic and optimistic, has always been and always will be just a dream. Britain’s place is at the heart of Europe's economy and politics and no degree of self delusion can change it.  

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President of European CouncilvUK has historically been a counterweight to Germany’s vision of the continent, but with Brexit and Germany proving itself most economically capable a seismic shift is about to take place in the corridors of power in Brussels. History of Germany as seen from the perspective her neighbours can teach us a lesson about Germany’s place in shaping the future of our continent