Lead actors on both sides are expert in the arts of mask and illusion, writes Andrew Moravcsik.
The Brexit debate has become a global spectator sport, which suggests that something very important must be at stake. Yet, unlike issues such as migration, the euro crisis and Ukraine, it lacks real significance: under no circumstances will Britain leave Europe, regardless of the result of the referendum on June 23.
It is instead a long kabuki drama in which politicians, not least Eurosceptics, advocate policies they would never actually implement. Kabuki — the ancient Japanese theatre art in which actors employ masks, make-up and …read more