Outline

The Debate for Scottish Independence

Introduction

I.       Thesis Statement

A.    Britain and Scotland have been in a long debate over the independence for Scotland for over 700 years, but debates are settling and there are some options on the table to help clear the air.

1.      Scotland would become independent from England, cutting all political ties while keeping economic ones.

2.      Britain will remain to have control of Scotland both politically and economically.

II.    Views of the Scottish

A.    Rights are being violated by the British.

1.      The British keep trying to change the Bill of Rights.

2.      England is taking control of the police academies in Scotland and training the soldiers to deal massive damage where it shouldn’t be used.

B.     Scotland can support themselves without the British.

1.      The SNP has made a rise in power in the past 10 years, and they already have experience running a minority government.

2.      Salmond can rely on the Banks and industrial factories to support the economy, but won’t cut all ties from England so they can keep the oil supply.

3.      Salmond has been devoting a lot of time to establish strong relationships with China and the Persian Gulf.

III.Views of the British

A.    Scotland won’t be able to last without the resources of England.

1.      Scottish government isn’t capable of running the government on their own

2.      Scotland wouldn’t last without the oil supply from England, and if they did try to drill on their own than all of the major resources have been depleted already.

 

 

B.     Scotland would never be able to cut all ties, not after using them for so long.

1.      Scotland’s banks have been successful, but they collapsed in 2008 only to be rescued by the British.

2.      Scotland hasn’t been able to make any strong connections with other countries without the help of Britain.

 

IV.Other Concerns

A.    Scotland would break Oaths made with Britain.

1.      Acts of Union 1706/07

2.      1998 Scotland Act of the United Kingdom Parliament

Conclusion

The debate for independence has been a very drawn out debate that began bloody over 700 years ago and has now turned into political disagreements. The Scottish people and government have different ideas than the British, but in a way they both want the same thing. Neither want a change to their lives that would drastically upset balance, but both want changes that would cause a separation.  The Scottish government wants to have the ability to govern their own people, but England doesn’t want that quite yet because it would upset balance and destroy previous agreements.  Also, Scotland wants to be able to keep economic ties with England, but in the eyes of the British, that isn’t possible to do if political ties are broken. I believe, after all of my research and with the opinion that I have formed, that it is possible for Scotland and the UK to separate, but it won’t be something that will happen anytime soon. For Example, the Scottish government does need to get stronger and they will need to find more ties before cutting the ones with the British. Also, I believe it is possible for the Economic ties to last between England and Scotland as long as they can agree on things in a new truce and break the ones previously made.

Scottish Independence Claim #2

 

Desired Resolution:

Scotland should remain part of the British monarch and live by the laws of the U.K and European Union.

Scotland isn’t able to form a liable means of income other than the oil, which is controlled by Britain and will eventually run out since the richest reserves have already been plundered (debate.org, para 1). Unemployment is also currently at a high in Scotland and those numbers will only rise if the economy of Scotland can’t support big business and if the British cannot support their economy (debate.org, para 5).

References:

Should Scotland become an independent nation? (2013). Debate.org. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-scotland-become-an-independent-nation

Scottish Independence Claim

Desirable Resolution:

Scotland would gain its independence and be completely free of British control.

Scotland is able to hold its own and it can support itself economically and politically. The Scottish National Party is currently at the height of its popularity and was already in charge of the minority government running Scotland’s internal affairs before (Gallagher, 2012). The Scottish are also leaning towards a society rooted in religious activism and a successful education system instead of a consumer society, so they are not worried about finding a replacement for the income from British oil (Gallagher, 2012).

References:

Gallagher, T. (2012, April 13). The rapid and unlikely rise of Scotland’s independence movement. The Atlantic. Retrieved October 17, 2013, from http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/04/the-rapid-and-unlikely-rise-of-scotlands-independence-movement/255854/

Annotated Bibliography

Fisher, R. J. (1997). Training as interactive conflict resolution: Characteristics and challenges. International Negotiation, 2(3), 331-351. http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxy-ub.researchport.umd.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=89d085f4-b2ee-49fa-a362-dfb7b2331d7b%40sessionmgr110&vid=12&hid=116

This first scholarly article was about how to resolve conflicts and how conflicts are begun. The author took time to do an in depth study of how conflicts start and how there are many different ways to solve each type of conflict depending on how long it’s been going on, who is involved, and what the goals of the people involved are. For example, one thing that stuck out to me was when the author talked about how solving international conflicts can sometimes relate to an internal conflict of some sort that may have caused the international conflict.

This source was helpful to my research because it helped give me a perspective that would help me gain an opinion for why the conflict may have begun. When I had originally begun my research, I knew that the Scottish wanted independence because they felt that their rights are being violated. However, because of the thought of this new perspective, it makes me think about what may have happened in Scotland that might cause them to feel that their rights are being violated. Therefore, the most helpful part of the article was the background knowledge about conflict causes and conflict resolution because it made me thing deeper about why the conflict began and if the right steps are being taken to solve the issue.

BONNEY, N. (2012). Scottish independence, State religion and the monarchy. Political Quarterly, 83(2), 360-367. doi:10.1111/j.1467-923X.2012.02290.x

This scholarly article mainly pointed out how Scottish independence related to religion and oaths made with the British monarch. The author’s main points throughout the article was that Scotland may not be doing the right thing with separating from the monarch because of certain oaths that were made. In summary, would it be considered breaking a truce if Scotland decided to secede from the British kingdom?

The article was interesting to me because it had somewhat of a pro-British point of view, which is why I picked the article because I felt as though it was important to have all sides of the dispute weigh in on different aspects. The author was pro-British because of the simple points she made such as saying that  Scotland wouldn’t be doing what was the best idea as of right now. The article is also significant to my research because again it gives me a different perspective of the conflict. For example, I thought that the conflict was originally all about politics and human rights, but now I see that maybe Scotland wants to start fresh, with a new religion or at least a separate religion from the British.

LEITH, M., & STEVEN, M. (2010). Party over policy? Scottish nationalism and the politics of independence. Political Quarterly, 81(2), 263-269. doi:10.1111/j.1467-923X.2010.02086.x

This final scholarly article mainly describes the Scottish National Party from a third party point of view. For example, the author takes the time to point out consistently what the SNP is doing right and wrong and how those decisions could affect their goal. Basically, the main point the author had for writing this document is to put more in-depth detail into the actual goals of the SNP and what they are doing to achieve these goals. He was able to point out which goals are good and bad, and analyze those goals to explain why.

The article was helpful to me because it gave me more insight into the Scottish National Party. The only thing I knew about the SNP when I began my research was that they were formed in the 1970’s to help protect the people of Scotland. However, now I know that The SNP has more goals than to just gain freedom from Britain, but they want to be able to have economic relations even after the secede. This helps me with my final paper because it will help me gain an opinion of the SNP and their goals.

Gallagher, T. (2012, April 13). The rapid and unlikely rise of Scotland’s independence movement. The Atlantic. Retrieved October 17, 2013, from http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/04/the-rapid-and-unlikely-rise-of-scotlands-independence-movement/255854/

This article is my first long-read article that helps me get another perspective, but this time with a different point of view. The author if this article has a pro-Scottish point of view that helps give an opinion of what the SNP is doing right with examples as well. By reading this article, I found that the author’s main point was to prove that the SNP, Alex Salmond more specifically, is doing everything he should be to help make his point and gain his goals, while also providing facts that help back the claim.

This article was helpful for me because it will also help me build an opinion of the SNP and Alex Salmond for when I write my final paper. The article also gives me a little bit of information as to what exactly Alex Salmond has done to help the SNP cause and provides example of how they will gain their goals. Even though the article is more of a pro-Scottish article, I know that it isn’t opinion based because of the facts provided in the article.

Scottish Independence Primary Source

When researching for my conflict, the Scottish Independence debate, I found a picture of a rally of a group of people who looked like they were at some sort of assembly, with Alex Salmond leading the speech. Alex Salmond is Scotland’s first minister, and the people at the event were wearing shirts that represented the Scottish flag, as well as waving Scottish flags. This leads me to believe that the speech was about gaining independence and what needs to be done to gain independence. I think that this picture shows that there are a lot of people in Scotland that want their independence and shows that they are very open about their opinion. Most likely the person that took the picture from the angle that he did was trying to send a message to England that the Scottish knew what they wanted and were determined to get it. This picture helps me with my understanding of the conflict because it shows just how empathetic the Scots were towards their goal.

You can view the picture and the article related at:

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/21/alex-salmond-scotland-independence

News Article Critiques

I critiqued these two articles about my conflict:

Scottish independence: David Cameron will not have TV debate with Alex Salmond [Editorial]. (2013, September 27). BBC. Retrieved September 29, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-24297286

Scottish independence: Referendum preparation ‘encouraging’ (2013, September 24). BBC. Retrieved September 29, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24223948

The articles are both about the current unraveling events about Scottish independence. They are news articles I found from BBC.com so they take on a third person perspectives since they aren’t directly involved with the conflict. The sources of BBC.com include the people directly involved which would be David Cameron, Alex Salmond, and Josh McCormick. The two articles are similar because they are referring to the debates and arguments currently involving Scotland. For example, the debates currently are about when and what they vote should entail when it’s casted. David Cameron, British Prime Minister, is debating with Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first minister, about whether the vote should be a simple yes or no answer and whether or not they should have a TV debate about the topic. The second article, on the other hand, is about John McCormick, electoral commissioner for Scotland, and his thoughts on the situation. As of right now, he believes that the referendum should be clear for all voters and therefore has stated that the Scottish and UK governments should cover the referendum in full detail for the public. The articles would be described as news because they relate to prominence and immediacy. The news on Scottish independence is very important to the people of Scotland and England because it has been a conflict for over a thousand years. The news articles are also late breaking because they are describing the most recent events of the dispute.

Scottish Independence Conflict Summary

The Scottish independence conflict has been going on for around a thousand years and can be broken down into many significant points and people, however the movement is also still going in to this day so it is mainly important to focus on the current status. Scotland is currently under British control and Scotland doesn’t formally have its own branch of government. Some of the Scottish people don’t mind the British influence and believe it could be good for Scotland, but there is also a large group of Scotts that would prefer to rule themselves. The SNP (Scottish National Party), was founded in 1934 to try and separate these differences, with this group leading the independence movement. It had very little success until the time when Alex Salmond took control of leading the party and lead to the creation of a referendum on independence in 1992 (“Scottish independence: A history of Anglo-Scottish rivalry,” 2012, para 21). This now leads into events today because, even though the referendum was proposed in 1992, it still is being debated on and is yet to be finalized. Alex Salmond and David Cameron, British Prime Minister, are supposed to be debating about the topic to give clarity to the public (“Scottish independence: David Cameron will not have TV debate with Alex Salmond,” 2013).

Scottish independence: A history of Anglo-Scottish rivalry. (2012, January 11). The Telegraph. Retrieved September 25, 201, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/scottish-politics/9007120/Scottish-independence-a-history-of-Anglo-Scottish-rivalry.html

Scottish independence: David Cameron will not have TV debate with Alex Salmond. (2013, September 27). BBC News. Retrieved September 25, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-24297286