That's foolish. Brexit proved that it's immigration, stupid. And once again, it's the economy, stupid (although the British neoliberal establishment never paid attention). But serious bets can be made the EU system in Brussels won't learn anything from the shock therapy -- and won't reform itself. There will be rationalizations that after all the UK was always classically whiny, obtrusive and demanding special privileges when dealing with the EU. As for "Western political civilization," what will end -- and this is a big thing -- is the special transatlantic relationship between the US and the EU with Britain as an American Trojan Horse.
So of course this all goes monumentally beyond a mere match between a hopelessly miscalculating Cameron, now fallen on his sword, and the recklessly ambitious court jester Boris Johnson -- a Donald Trump with better vocabulary and speech patterns.
Show me the people
Anglo-French historian Robert Tombs has remarked that when Europeans talk about history they refer to the Roman Empire, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Great Britain is somewhat overlooked. In reciprocity, quite a few Britons still consider Europe an entity that should be kept at a safe distance.
To compound the problem, this is not a "Europe of peoples." Brussels absolutely detests European public opinion, and the system exhibits an iron resistance to reform. This current EU project that ultimately aims at a federation, modeled on the US, does not cut it in most of Britain. Arguably this is one of the key reasons behind Brexit -- which for its part has already disunited the kingdom and may eventually downgrade it into a tiny trading post on the edge of Europe.
Lacking a "European people," the Brussels system could not but be articulated as a Kafkaesque, unelected bureaucracy. Moreover, the representatives of this people-deprived Europe in Brussels actually defend what they consider to be their national interest, and not the "European" interest.
Arguably Remain, in the best possible case, would have led to some soul-searching in Brussels, and a wake-up call, translating into a more flexible monetary policy; a push to contain immigration inside African borders; and more opening towards Russia. The UK would remain in Europe giving more weight to countries outside the eurozone while Germany would concentrate on the 19-member eurozone nations.
So Remain would have led to the UK increasing its politico-economic weight in Brussels while Germany would be more open to moderate growth (instead of austerity). Although Britain arguably would wince at the notion of a future eurozone Treasure Minister, a European FBI and a European Minister of the Interior, in fact the whole notion of a complete economic and monetary union.
That's all water under the bridge now. Additionally, don't forget the mighty single market drama.
The City gets a black eye
Brexit defeated an overwhelming array of what Zygmunt Bauman defined as the global elites of liquid modernity; the City of London, Wall Street, the IMF, the Fed, the European Central Bank (ECB), major hedge/investment funds, the whole interconnected global banking system.
The City of London, predictably, voted Remain by over 75%. An overwhelming $2.7 trillion is traded every day in the "square mile," which employs almost 400,000 people. And it's not only the square mile, as the City now also includes Canary Wharf (HQ of quite a few big banks) and Mayfair (privileged hang out of hedge funds).
The City of London -- the undisputed financial capital of Europe -- also manages a whopping $1.65 trillion of client assets, wealth literally from all over the planet. In Treasure Islands, Nicholas Shaxson argues, "financial services companies have flocked to London because it lets them do what they cannot do at home."
Things will change. Drastically. There will be no more "passporting," by which banks can sell products for all 28 EU members, accessing a $19 trillion integrated economy. All it takes is a HQ in London and a few satellite mini-offices. Passporting will be up for fierce negotiation, as well as what happens to London's euro-denominated trading floors.