Brexit is a unique lesson in the consequences for a state that democratically decides to reverse the avowedly irreversible processes of strengthening global interdependence. The panel explores the ways of capturing this situation, discussing the impact of EU external relations law on the position of a leaving state, the inevitable link between the external untangling and internal unsettling and the transformation of what was once a Member State from a subject to object of EU law. This discussion, however, cannot take place without an inquiry into the reasons for the decision that was made. The papers on the panel thus also discuss the root of the Leave voter‘s illusion of “taking back control“ as well as the tension between law, reason, identity and particularities. The papers focus upon the nexus between law, constitutionalism and governance in the depiction of the vote and its unfolding consequences as framing devices.