The scaremongering has just begun. A successful UK exit is going to be powerful ammunition for any nationalist politician in any EU country.
Imho I think the threat of greater force does not prevent nations from taking drastic actions when pushed against a wall.
Civil unrest is caused by large unemployment especially of the young, which in turn leads to nationalistic and isolationist policies breeding bigotry and violence that are seized upon by demagogues. These are warning signs of something to come. The weird thing is they seem to be popping up all over both in eastern and western europe over the course of the last decade.
The US election in turn I think will definitely tilt the balance. From what i have seen it is not looking good on this side of the pond either.
As for isolationism leading to war, I think this I think has been blown out of proportion. Of course in extreme examples it can happen, but I'd suggest at most we'd be looking at Australian-style economic protectionism rather than North Korean-style isolationism.
To avoid sounding cliche, I hope we remember history...
I honestly believe I work for an amazing company so the metaphor may not be perfect, but if you want to increase confidence temporarily you could certainly try to manufacture these circumstances. In my case I think they're genuine, which does actually give me significant pause any time I think about how much of a raise I might get, or where else I might go.
The EU simply has to ensure its rules are sensible and fair, and offer the UK a fair deal. The UK will still be better off than non-EU countries, but not as good as EU members. Members who want the full benefits will stay.
And such d* moves will certainly not help them get back anyone where in the near foreseeable future because of bridge-burning.
It will do exactly that because it will show how bad of an idea it is to quit from the EU even for the richest country in Europe.
The comments on this thread are ridiculously naive, I expected better from HN.