Americans – like Britain – want to shake up the status quo

The United Kingdom's historic vote to leave the European Union might not immediately seem to have much to do with American politics. Yet the impulse that lead a majority of British citizens to vote for such a massive change, one with uncertain economic implications but that guarantees turmoil, also underpins America's current political moment.

Where I live in Berlin, the elites in government and the media are deeply disappointed by the Brexit vote, seeing it as a triumph of xenophobia and nationalism. But while frustration with the migrant crisis – and with Germany unilaterally deciding to change the face and future of the European Union by announcing Berlin had opened the doors to all comers – likely played a role in the success of Brexit, that was just a symptom of a more fundamental frustration.