Secession Within NATO Countries. Scotland and Catalonia

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2014 in the subject Politics - Other International Politics Topics, language: English, abstract: This essay analyzes the security implications of a "yes" vote on these regional independence movements in Spain and the UK. Even if the "no" votes outnumber the "yes" votes, the security issues will remain relevant if the underlying reasons for the divorce remain, making the British author William Hickson's words, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again" ironically relevant. Would a "yes" vote on Scottish independence be "cataclysmic in geopolitical terms for the world," as former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson has argued, or would independence be no more than a "'storm in a teacup'-an internal issue for the United Kingdom with few consequences for the international community?" This essay argues that secessionist movements in Catalonia and Scotland are likely to result in short-term reductions in security for the secessionist states and their former governments.