Scottish independence: Views from around the world

SEPTEMBER’S referendum is the hot topic across the country, but it is also provoking debate and comment across the globe. In this feature from our dedicated independence site, we look at some of the week’s best pieces from further afield.

Get all the latest on the referendum on our dedicated independence website. Picture: PA

• Get the latest referendum news, opinion and analysis from across Scotland and beyond on our new Scottish Independence website

USA

Scotland should vote for independence to escape the “disproportionate and destabilizing influence” of London on the UK’s economy and politics, according to Scottish-born academic David Speedie.

Speedie, Senior Fellow and Director of the U.S. Global Engagement Program at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, addresses concerns over the government in Westminster, movement of Scots between London and Scotland, and the “frayed” social contract in his piece for Scottish Global Forum.

CANADA

Earlier this week, politicians who led the ‘No’ campaigns in Quebec’s independence referendums have warned the Better Together campaign to stay positive in their quest for a ‘No’ vote.

Canadian senator Dennis Dawson said: “You can’t say that Scotland does not have the economic force to be independent. That is the wrong thing to say.” Read more from Dawson here.

Elsewhere in Canada, members of the Scottish diaspora gave their views to the BBC’s Glenn Campbell, with the overriding view from those interviewed being that the debate itself is good for Scotland. Read the full piece here.

CHINA

This week saw the premier of China, Li Kequing, join other world leaders in speaking out against Scottish independence. Simon Engler of Foreign Policy magazine. looked at the reasons behind Li’s support for the UK.

Engler noted that China’s opposition is based in its need to suppress dissent in regions such as Tibet, but also points out in his piece that the potential lack of repercussions for the Chinese in speaking out.

AUSTRALIA

Melbourne-based Scottish journalist Richard Ferguson looked at the comments made by JK Rowling and Pope Francis on the referendum debate, and their potential importance to the Better Together campaign, in an in-depth feature on ABC’s news programme The Drum.

Ferguson writes: “Australia’s great reformer Paul Keating often talks of the importance of the “narrative”, of the art of storytelling in politics. Scotland’s “Better Together” campaign could do worse than listen to Keating’s counsel because currently their story seems to stink.”

• Get the latest referendum news, opinion and analysis from across Scotland and beyond on our new Scottish Independence website