The debate over Scottish independence wouldn’t be complete without panicked fretting from Americans:

It suggests that we have to consider that, a la the Republic of Ireland, Scotland might well be aggressively neutral, and avoid involvement all kinds of Euro-Atlantic collective security agreements that have been so important in maintaining European stability since 1945.

Yes, what a burden Irish neutrality has been on the world. How have we managed to survive it? Scottish independence is a matter to be worked out by the people of Scotland, the Scottish political leadership, and the British government. If an independent Scotland pursued a foreign policy more akin to that of Ireland and Sweden, as Salmond has already proposed, that should make no difference to the United States. If Scotland becomes independent through a legal referendum that the British government accepts, there is no sense in the U.S. being more Unionist than the Unionists. In any case, the U.S. will scarcely be affected. In the event that Scotland does become independent, one sure way to alienate it is to treat its independence as being somehow harmful to America. Unlike most of the other separatist causes the U.S. has supported in recent years, an independent Scotland would be viable and wouldn’t depend on the U.S. and our allies to prop it up.