How Catalonia Can Help Itself and the Rest of Spain

In a Business Insider political piece, “Here’s why Catalonia should secede from Spain, and why it won’t” former Catalan MP Alfons López Tena argues in favor of Catalonia’s independence movement. In the article, he argues like many of his peers that the region deserves liberation from alleged Spanish tyranny. However, the claim that Catalonia should […]

The Sovereign State: A Look at Catalonia and Kurdistan

“Common sense will tell us, that the power which hath endeavoured to subdue us, is of all others, the most improper to defend us.”   ― Thomas Paine, Common Sense   Part I: Catalonia Catalonia, an independent region in the northeastern part of Spain, has recently returned to the international scene. On October 1st, 2017, […]

The Catalan Catch-22

If he negotiates, he loses. If he uses force, he loses. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has dug himself a into a hole where the only remaining options are to give something up– either relinquish control over an ever-more powerful Catalonia, or risk the consequences of losing democratic legitimacy. Since the referendum on October 1st, […]

Referendum is the New Revolt

Weeks of tension, anticipation, and indelible patience led to the ultimate “no”—or “No thanks”, as the Scottish campaign politely advocated—vote on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom on September 18th. Nearly 85% of eligible Scottish voters turned out to give their two pence on the contentious issue, according to NPR’s Ari Shapiro—a turnout that broke […]