{"id":16223,"date":"2014-10-09T14:30:19","date_gmt":"2014-10-09T03:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=16223"},"modified":"2014-10-10T12:39:26","modified_gmt":"2014-10-10T01:39:26","slug":"why-scotlands-no-to-independence-is-good-news-for-peace-in-the-asia-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-scotlands-no-to-independence-is-good-news-for-peace-in-the-asia-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Scotland\u2019s \u2018no\u2019 to independence is good news for peace in the Asia-Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Referendum<\/a>The independence referendum in my native land has attracted more attention<\/a> on this side of the world than I would have imagined. Separatist movements in the region are studying the Scottish example to see what can be learned, while Indonesian commentators have lauded the UK\u2019s ability to cope with separatist movements peacefully and democratically. But there\u2019s another lesson Scotland offers the region, and it\u2019s not as obvious as the above.<\/p>\n

The French used to have a saying \u2018fier comme un ecossais\u2019\u2014\u2018proud like a Scotsman\u2019\u2014and there\u2019s no question that had the referendum been purely about national pride, the \u2018yes\u2019 campaign would\u2019ve won handily. According to the Scottish Social Attitudes survey<\/a>, 49% of Scots self-identify as either exclusively or predominantly Scottish, whereas a mere 11% self-identify as either exclusively or predominantly British. Recognizing that, the \u2018no\u2019 campaign made little attempt to stress British identity as a reason to vote against independence.<\/p>\n

But the Scots did vote against independence, and convincingly so. Why? Well, the clue lies in another Scottish Social Attitudes study. That study asked groups of voters whether they\u2019d be in favour of Scottish independence if it made them better or worse off by \u00a3500 (approximately AU$920). This relatively small amount of money was sufficient to produce a whopping 70% majority against independence in the \u2018worse off\u2019 case versus a 52% majority in favour of independence in the \u2018better off\u2019 case.<\/p>\n

What that shows us is the \u2018no\u2019 campaign was able to convince Scots to put considerations of national identity to one side by persuading them that they\u2019d likely incur even modest financial losses by seceding from the UK. Now many individuals might see this decision on the part of Scottish voters as ignoble and mercenary (referring to the original Act of Union in 1707, Scottish poet Robert Burns claimed his countrymen had been \u2018bought and sold for English gold\u2019). But I see it as a hopeful sign for the prospects of peace on our planet and in our region, and that\u2019s where the Asia-Pacific angle comes back in.<\/p>\n

If Scots, one of Western Europe\u2019s most nationalistic peoples, can be persuaded to trade off national identity concerns for a comparatively paltry (perceived) sum of money, doesn\u2019t that also suggest publics in the Asia-Pacific might be prepared to put aside issues of national pride over disputed territory in the face of even bigger prospective financial losses through conflict?<\/p>\n

National pride, in my view, is a real motivating factor in international conflict. But it\u2019s also a \u2018good\u2019 just like any other which people trade off against other things they value. You think China should go to war with Japan to avenge Nanking? Think the Paracel Islands are rightfully China\u2019s? Ok, fine\u2014but what if you had to choose between those national goals and a new laptop for yourself? Or a new car? Or a new house? Economic interdependence may not eliminate the national rivalries or pride that cause people to go to war. It just raises the cost of indulging those passions above that which people are prepared to pay. Everybody has a price. And that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n

Charles Miller is a lecturer at ANU\u2019s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. Image courtesy of Flickr user Lawrence OP<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The independence referendum in my native land has attracted more attention on this side of the world than I would have imagined. Separatist movements in the region are studying the Scottish example to see what …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":16226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[769,958,957],"class_list":["post-16223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-conflict","tag-independence","tag-scotland"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Scotland\u2019s \u2018no\u2019 to independence is good news for peace in the Asia-Pacific | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-scotlands-no-to-independence-is-good-news-for-peace-in-the-asia-pacific\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Scotland\u2019s \u2018no\u2019 to independence is good news for peace in the Asia-Pacific | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The independence referendum in my native land has attracted more attention on this side of the world than I would have imagined. 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