“Separation is forever.” Alistair Darling, former Chancellor of the Exchequer
Any time you divide one number by another number, you end up with a smaller number.
And so it is with Scotland’s vote to succeed from the not-so-United Kingdom, which is scheduled to take place on Sept. 18.
The vote appears too close to call, but even the fact that it’s taking place is disconcerting. As Rupert Murdoch tweeted, “Scottish poll reflects world-wide disillusion with political leaders and old establishments, leaving openings for libertarians and far left.”
Well, at least the less-Great Britain will still have Wales. For now, anyway.
Why should we care about what’s happening across the Atlantic? Asking what tiny Scotland has to do with the fate of the U.S. is like asking what tiny Greece has to do with the fate of Europe.
Putting aside the economic impact, this is a time when the world’s democracies need to be united against a growing terrorist threat. Even President Obama acknowledged this week that ignoring the world’s problems won’t make them go away, when he declared war on the Islamic State. (OK, he didn’t call it a war, he called it a “counter-terrorism campaign.” And his predecessors called fighting in Vietnam a “conflict.”)
So, at a time when America is seeking to rally its allies in battle against the Islamic State, one of America’s strongest allies is distracted by an internal split. Consider what The Spectator had to say about the upcoming vote:
“Make no mistake, the UK government will now be on full panic mode. This eclipses everything: the country is 12 days away from dissolution.”
This “panic mode” is reflected in the promises being made and the doomsday scenarios being cast by British political leaders. Making the case for Britain United, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is Scottish, said that a truly united United Kingdom means “better pensions, better healthcare, more jobs and better security.”
Prime Minister David Cameron, meanwhile, said, “With terrorist threats and other threats, isn’t it better to be part of a United Kingdom that has a top-five defense budget, some of the best intelligence and security services anywhere in the world, that is part of every single alliance that really matters in the world in terms of NATO, the G-8, the G-20, the European Union, a member of the security council of the UN? All those networks and abilities to work with allies to keep us safe. Isn’t it better to have those things than separate yourself from them?”
His statement was made at the end of the recent NATO meeting, at which NATO showed its strength by doing almost nothing.