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By Matt O'Brien June 27 at 7:14 AM Washington Post illustration, iStock THE world has enjoyed an unprecedented run of peace, prosperity, and cooperation the last 25 years, but now that might be over. At least when it comes to those last two. That, more than anything else, is what Britain's vote to leave the European Union means. A British exit, or Brexit, will make the country poorer in the short run, perhaps in the long run too, and might drag the rest of Europe down with it. That's because Britain is essentially ripping up its free trade deal with the rest of Europe. But of far greater concern than just dollars and cents is that this is the most significant setback in Europe's 60-year quest for "ever closer union," and the most shocking success for the new nationalism sweeping the Western world. Brexit, in other words, is the end of the end of history. ADVERTISING That, of course, was Francis Fukuyama's famous idea that, with the end of the Cold War, capitalist democracy had not only defeated communism, but also every other ideology. It was supposed to be, as he wrote, the "final form of human government." And insofar as democracies tended to work together, this implied the future would be one where competition wouldn't lead to conflict, but would rather replace it. Tariffs would come down, money would move across borders to where it was needed most, and workers would too. This meant, then, that governments weren't the only ones that would become more alike. People would as well. They'd stop being citizens and chauvinists, and become consumers and cosmopolitans. You'd have nation-states without the nationalism. For awhile, this seemed true enough. Democracy spread, war lessened, and economies opened up. In turn, international groups like the European Union and World Trade Organization codified it all. As any Mumbai taxi driver could have told you, the world really was a Thomas Friedman book. Or at least it looked that way, if you didn't stare too closely. If you did, though, you would have noticed the cracks in this liberal international order. For one, financial capitalism didn't always work so well for countries. Money moved in and out of them at the speed of a mouse click, inflating and then popping bubbles along the way. From Mexico to Argentina, Thailand to South Korea, Hong Kong to Indonesia, and, eventually, the United States to southern Europe, these capital flows magnified the economy's boom-bust cycle, with an emphasis on the bust. For another, global capitalism didn't always work so well for workers in the U.S. and Europe even as—or, in some cases, because—it pulled hundreds of millions of people out of poverty everywhere else. In fact, the working class in rich countries have seen their real, or inflation-adjusted, incomes flatline or even fall since the Berlin Wall came down and they were forced to compete with all the Chinese, Indian, and Indonesian workers entering the global economy. You can see that in the chart below, put together from economist Branko Milanovic's data. It shows how much real incomes have increased—or not—for the whole world between 1988 and 2008. Now, the way to read this is to imagine that everyone, as in everyone in every country, was lined up from highest to lowest income. The richest people in the richest countries (and every other one for that matter) would be in the global top 1 percent, the working class in the richest countries would be around the 80th percentile, and the middle class in middle-class countries like China would be at the 50th percentile. Globalization didn't create a lot of losers, but the ones it did were concentrated in the countries that were the driving force behind it. This was a political powder keg. If rich-world workers were losing ground even when times were good, what would happen if we got hit by one of the financial crises the new global economy seemed to spawn every few years? Well, things would get ugly. Although, in truth, they had already started to. Right-wing populists like Pat Buchanan in the U.S., Jean-Marie LePen in France, and Jörg Haider in Austria had scored surprising near-victories, if not actual ones, in the late 1990s and early 2000s by focusing the working class' incipient ire on a "foreign" enemy besides outsourcing: immigrants. This antagonism reflected economic anxiety, cultural fear, and even racial resentment. Displaced workers felt like immigrants were taking jobs and benefits that should have been theirs. They were worried about losing the one thing—their national identity—the market couldn't take. And, a lot of times, they just didn't want to be around people who didn't look, sound, or worship like they did. It didn't take long, then, for the West's triumphal globalism to fuel a nationalist backlash. In the U.S., it's Trump, in France it's the National Front, in Germany it's the Alternative for Germany, and, yes, in Britain it's the Brexiters.

(CNN)Britain's stunning vote to leave the European Union is both historic and world-changing. But what does it really mean for folks living on the other side of the Atlantic? Potentially, everything -- the economy, national security, even the race for president. Here are five ways Brexit will affect Americans: It could hurt the economy The UK is the world's fifth-largest economy and one of the United States' largest trading partners, so if it catches a cold, we may get a little sick, too. When the pound dropped to 30-year lows as the results came in and British stocks got pounded, it was no surprise when Wall Street tumbled more than 500 points right after the opening bell Friday morning. So yes, your 401k's probably a little smaller right now. Lots of U.S. companies invest in the UK as a gateway to the rest Europe's market. Companies like Rolls Royce and JPMorgan warned before Thursday's vote that leaving the EU would put those investments and jobs in the UK at risk. Big companies and banks may also move staff to Germany or France to avoid disruption to their EU business. Why's that risky for the U.S.? There's a real fear that increased unemployment in the UK and all the uncertainty could push Britain into a recession, and it could take America's economy down with it. It may leave a less stable Europe Brexit could start a long line of dominoes to fall across Europe. Greece has been thinking about getting out of the EU for a couple of years now. Now they may start thinking out loud. Far-right politicians in the Netherlands and France looked at what happened in Britain and said, hey, we want get-out-of-the EU referendums in our countries too. If enough dominoes fall, there's a real danger the EU could collapse. Heck, the UK itself may be headed for a breakup. Scotland, which voted Remain, is almost certain to call for another referendum on its independence -- so it can join the EU. Leaders in Northern Ireland may push to reunite with Ireland. In short, the U.S. could soon be dealing with a volatile and unstable Europe, a plight that makes everyone less safe. Uncertainty. Instability. Economic anxiety: the very things the world said it had enough of when the idea for a European trading bloc was born decades ago in the ashes of World War II. It puts stress on the 'special relationship' Both President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden said after the vote that the special bond between the U.S. and the UK will endure, but there can't help but be some changes. Remember, back in April, Obama said a successful Brexit would move Britain to the "back of the queue" when it came to trade deals with the United States. America's already trying to cobble together a deal with what will be left of the EU now. If the Brits want one with the U.S. after they get out of the EU, they'll just have to wait. That won't exactly make them feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Another thing the U.S. finds so special about the UK? Being able to exert some influence on the EU, via the UK's voice. With the British soon to be gone from the bloc, the U.S. may now need to start paying more attention to its relationships with some other countries -- hello, Germany and France -- in order to achieve that goal. Trump will go all in on immigration Donald Trump shot to the top of the GOP primary field and eventually to the nomination by focusing on illegal immigration. Fears surrounding immigration was a big factor for a lot of Brits who pulled the lever for Leave, and Trump suspects it will be, too, for Americans voting for a new president in the fall. "Americans will have a chance to vote for trade, immigration and foreign policies that put our citizens first," he said Friday from Turnberry, a golf resort he owns in Scotland. So expect Trump -- who was showing signs of moderating his positions somewhat -- to go full throttle on his immigration ideas, like building a wall with Mexico and his proposed Muslim ban. Trump's also betting that the kind of political message that worked like a charm in the referendum -- a harsh critique of free trade and demands to "take our country back" -- will be just as effective among blue-collar workers in rust belt states in the United States. Travel to the UK will be cheaper Looks like the pound's going to be down for a while, so yes, your upcoming UK vacation just got a lot cheaper. You can see Big Ben, the Tower of London, Stonehenge, Buckingham Palace and other British landmarks with less cash than you've had to dole out in decades, because your U.S. dollar will be a lot stronger compared to the pound over there for the foreseeable future. And the Brits will be happy to see you: the UK is going to start having far fewer tourists from the EU itself. That's because it'll be more of a hassle for Europeans to visit. Immigration lines will be more clogged due to the extra processing for EU citizens who would've previously enjoyed visa-free access. Last year, EU countries made up seven of the top 10 countries sending tourists to the UK, so Americans, who were the second biggest group, will likely move on up to the top spot, replacing France.