f4f3: (Bravecow)
f4f3 ([personal profile] f4f3) wrote2014-02-16 03:20 pm

Just call me Cassandra...

From yesterday's post:

"I'm waiting for the stories about England's claim to North Sea Oil, for Spain to come out and confirm a veto of Scotland's EU membership, for NATO to threaten to expel Scotland if it removes the Trident nuclear weapons system."

Anyone want to take bets on the other two? (of course Barroso is not giving an official position, but it will be spun that way).


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-26215963

[identity profile] danieldwilliam.livejournal.com 2014-02-17 09:27 am (UTC)(link)
I don’t see Spain being keen to get involved in our issues given how badly it would rebound on them.

http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au//bitstream/2123/9383/4/ECON%202013-17.pdf

[identity profile] f4f3.livejournal.com 2014-02-17 04:36 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a fascinating paper, and I wonder how much it's recognised by the Spanish Government. Their current stance is being presented as being against admitting independent Scotland to the EU. "The Spanish veto" is being raised by the Left, Right and Centre (and never has that phrase seemed so apt in British politics...).

[identity profile] danieldwilliam.livejournal.com 2014-02-18 09:25 am (UTC)(link)
I think the authors’ view is that the Spanish government know very well the situation they are in, and they know that the Catalan’s know that they know.

I’m not so sure. I fear that senior politicians of all types and stripes are so focused on their own party apparatus that it is very difficult for them to access or assimilate information that runs counter to their core beliefs. Put another way, I fear that senior politicians are often too focused on their own narrative to remember that the enemy has volition and scope for independent action.

Coming at it another way – I’d like to ask Barosso et al – So, you want Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro but Catalonia and Scotland are an absolute no no – how do you think German tax payers are going to react to that?