This is a thread to discuss politics from all nations with the exception of the United States of America. (As Cantus said he would keep it clean)

I'll start a topic about the Catalan Independence.

Here are some informative links first.

"Catalan separatism" in Wikipedia
"Some 1.5 million people have been taking part in Catalonia's annual independence rally in Barcelona." by BBC news
"Crisis fuels Catalan independence push" by Irish Times
"Catalonia rallies for independence on �Catalan National Day" by Washington Post

What is your position/opinion on situations like this where regions want independence from their country?

I personally think that it's foolish and that these people are depowering themselves for a vague and vain sense of nationalism(regionalism???). Kosovo is a lesson is a good lesson of this with their separation from Serbia causing vast problems on international diplomacy with countries like Spain have to deny considering Kosovo a country because it would legitimize independence movements within their their own country.

But then again it's their democratic wish, can we truly deny them that just because "we know better"? This also makes me kinda of a hypocrite because i fully support the democratic wishes of the people from Falkland to remain in the British nation.

So what's your opinion?(sorry for any grammatical problems)

__________________

Who do you think is a better fuck: Rama IX or Margaret Thatcher?


I get the impression that Rama IX is a screamer.

__________________

Why choose? Both is always the solution.

EDIT: On the other hand Thatcher is a chemist and could probably make some good hallucinogenics.

__________________

No. If people want to be independent, then they have the right to be. Let them consider the consequences and then deal with them as they arise.

If the Catalonians want independence, they should have it.

__________________

As someone who comes from a Catalan family, let me say that it's not a good idea for those savages to rule themselves.

__________________

A government's mandate to rule comes from the consent of the governed, so if people want independence from their country then they should of course be allowed to have it. The self-determination of small peoples is an important right to defend in world politics.

Pretty much this. Let them sink of swim on their own merit if they're so keen to give it a try. Spain's a mess as it is anyway, so they might (emphasis on "might") do well.

__________________

So how do you non-Americans view the American civil war and secession of the CSA?

__________________

If the Confederates had won, the world would probably be more interesting.

__________________
There is no creature on earth half so terrifying as a truly just man.

If I told you I had a time machine, what would you say?

__________________

"Why wasn't Hitler successfully assassinated?"

__________________

Because apparently Sean Connery isn't as good with a gun as the movies make him out to be.

__________________

You should have seen the guy Hitler replaced.

Then what's your position on Quebec separation?

The majority doesn't want to separate but in this case the majority constitutes 51% of the population as of the 1995 referendum.

__________________
"Noble countrymen, evil is upon us. Darkness has befallen our shores. Rise and slay thy enemies� strike, strike so others shall live. The meek shall not fade into the night� live my brethren, live." - King Terenas Menethil II

Because he was never in a room with Christopher Lee.

__________________

Well in that case the debate has reached no clear consensus yet and so the conversation needs to continue until one of the positions has reached a clear majority (like 80%-ish). More people need to be convinced to one side or the other before the question can be appropriately settled. And if Quebec does reach the point where most people living there don't want to be part of Canada any longer, then the pro-Canadian minority should of course be protected by that new state.

It's even more complex because Northern Quebec is largely populated by Aboriginal populations whose treaties are binding to the government of Canada, not the government of Quebec. If Quebec separates (which I doubt it will, 1995 was their chance and the Quebecois nationalist population has been shrinking dramatically since) then what becomes of them?

__________________
"Noble countrymen, evil is upon us. Darkness has befallen our shores. Rise and slay thy enemies� strike, strike so others shall live. The meek shall not fade into the night� live my brethren, live." - King Terenas Menethil II

Eh, I'm of the opinion that all people are entitled to be ruled fairly and justly, I think its kind of stupid when it comes to them wanting to be their own country just for nationalistic reasons.

I mean, if you care that much about where your leader came from, instead how they're doing as a head of state, then you should probably look at yourself a little closer.

What a lovely word to pronounce.

Quebec. Kweh-beck. Kae'baeckeh.

Try it. Taste it, and spit it back out.

Delightful.

__________________

Tastes like leather dipped in maple syrup.

__________________

This is due largely to my general ignorance of Canadia, but whenever I read/hear about Quebec, I want to slap it lightly across the face. Sounds like a land of douchebags.

I'd say separation should happen by.... the Canadian equivalent of counties, I suppose. That is, if Northern Quebec wants to stay with Canada, it'll stay, but Southern Quebec gets to be its new country and all.

That said, usually successor countries all inherit whatever treaties/debts/whatever they had before (though split if appropriate, of course), and so the treaties would apply to Quebec.

__________________
"All right, I'll get that kid to eat. Where's my screw driver and my plumber's helper? I'll open up his mouth and I'll shove it in."


The Alliance's three rules on faction conflict:
1) You can't win.
2) You can't break even.
3) You can't leave the game.

That's not really how the aboriginals view it though. Heck, their treaties are technically with the British crown and they're now with the government of Canada because the British crown is still Canada's ceremonial head of state. They have no interest at all being caught up in Quebec's nationalistic hissy-fit.

Plus, Southern Quebec has a very distinct divide as well. Rural areas you're more likely to see nationalism, but in metropolitan Montreal, they're firmly against it, and even in the provincial capital of Quebec City opinion is split. Separation would screw over far too many people in Quebec.

Heck, the reason why Toronto ended up eclipsing Montreal was because the big businesses all fled Quebec to Toronto during the sovereignty movement, causing an economic slump in Quebec that they have yet to recover from. The Bank of Montreal's operational headquarters is in Toronto. Around this time, funnily enough, is when the nationalists changed their tone from "sovereignty" to "sovereignty association" which would grant them political autonomy but they would remain part of the Canadian economy. It was a childish farce.

__________________
"Noble countrymen, evil is upon us. Darkness has befallen our shores. Rise and slay thy enemies� strike, strike so others shall live. The meek shall not fade into the night� live my brethren, live." - King Terenas Menethil II

The sooner Madrid stops stalling and starts talking about Spanish regional autonomy the better.
With regards to the argument that the smaller states of spain would carry less weight than the current state, what sort of power do you think the Spanish goverment has now?

Spain has been poor and lacking on the international stage for the last 200 years, If the Basques and the Catalans were seeking independence from Britain France or Germany, you may have a point, but Spain is small fry.

With complete indifference.

This is exactly what I was thinking when I read the preceding posts. There are more pro-Confederates in the world than I thought.

I guess it's calm enough in the United Kingdom, since Scotland thinks it already is a country.

(Half-joking.)