International activities of Scotland: Scottish nationalists’ positions

Abstract

Scotland’s international activities are interesting in many respects. Firstly, the region has a long history of political struggle for independence, having formulated the concept of “Scotland is a country” by now. Secondly, starting with the preparations for the 2019 general election campaign, the Scottish National Party (SNP), as the political leader of the region, has launched a program of “internationalization of Scotland”, stating not only international ambitions, but also the use of international relations to strengthen the position of Scotland as independent nation in the international arena. Thirdly, Scotland seeks to demonstrate itself as a responsible player, offering its innovations in the field of strengthening partnership and peace, and proving that the whole world will benefit from an independent Scotland (it is no coincidence that SNP party documents often mention that “the Scots are conscientious citizens of the world”). Fourthly, the independence of Scotland is offered by the SNP as a tool for realizing the rights of citizens to participate personally in the international agenda. Thus, we note both the growing international ambitions of Scotland and their international recognition. In general, the Scottish model of paradiplomacy is the use of all possible international platforms and the creation of new ones to form a positive image of the region. The goal of the article: to analyze the strategy of international activity of Scotland and correlate it with the practical activity of the region. The study was carried out on the basis of a political-historical approach, which means an analysis of regional processes in any area in the context of national and macro-regional development (in this case, we understand the European Union as a macro-region). The research method within the framework of the chosen approach was the case study method. Accordingly, the article compared various indicators of regional involvement in international processes after Brexit in the longer period of Scotland’s entry into the international arena after 1998, i. e. implementation of the Scottish Act. This allows us to talk about the dynamics of the region’s international activity and its prospects.