Rolling Over Scotland

“As the tail on our back disappeared as we no longer had any use for it, nuclear weapons will also disappear once we realize, we no longer have any need for them. But no matter how much we daydream, it will never happen as some sort of grand geopolitical gesture of international collaboration – somebody has to take the first step – one nuclear-capable state has to take that first leap of bold faith and naive trust! The question is, who will it be? The first nuclear nation to abandon its nuclear weapons, will be the First Peacemaking Nation of Earth – and their head of state, the First Peacemaker.” – Abhijit Naskar

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This week saw the publication of the 11th paper in the series of the Building A New Scotland Independence White Papers by the Scottish Government, this time looking at the defence and foreign affairs and the policies that the current SNP/Green Scottish Government would advocate should they form the Government of that independence Scotland.

The paper was recently described by Alyn Smith as a sign that the Government had “done its homework when it comes to foreign policy and security”. Unfortunately, he is very far from the mark on that. The paper instead shows a profound ignorance about the process of becoming an independent state and a serious contempt for the internal party democracies of the parties involved.

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