Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and first minister of the devolved government of Scotland, will be on tour in Washington, DC this week. Ostensibly, the purpose of the visit is to deliver a keynote speech on Scotland’s role in European energy security at a conference organized by the Brookings Initiative on Climate Research and Action. But the Scottish leader is a politician at heart and has her own political goals. Sturgeon will also be meeting a wide range of Washington politicians, and attending a number of other events on climate, energy security, and the war in Ukraine. This visit resembles nothing so much as a state visit by an incumbent head of government—entirely by design.

But Americans must know the facts. In becoming independent, Scotland would paralyze the nuclear defensive stance of the UK for at least five to ten years, blowing a huge hole into NATO’s defensive posture at a time when the alliance is tested unlike any since the end of the Cold War. The entire nuclear submarine infrastructure that the UK relies on is based in Scotland, and the SNP has pledged to close it down upon independence. Relocating the infrastructure is going to be hugely expensive, and more importantly, it will take a long time.

Independence would also hamper Scotland’s ability to help mitigate the energy crisis, and would adversely affect Europe’s long-term energy security. Scotland is potentially home to one of the biggest potential net surpluses in energy, especially in renewables. But leaving the UK will leave the Scottish government with a 10-20 percent black hole in its budget, hampering Scotland’s ability to roll out the infrastructure necessary to support the fast development of those resources.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Education Matters