If you know were St.maarten is, why should it become independant?
214238
Because the Netherlands are wicked far away and most people, regardless of who's rule they come under, prefer to be able to have a local government and make their own laws.  (Not that the antilles don't have their own government, but they only have juristiction over so much)
216477
There should be an European Union Style community, not totally joining the two countries...
195796
this would be interesting except for your last point.  Look at our system.  We already have one in place and its not working. The Executie Branch has gained a ton of power and the Leg and Jud brances have lost their power.  It's become about helping each other out instead of maintaining balance.  Otherwise your outline exists in Canada.
16255
The requirement for participation is that a television station in the country must have joined the EBU. So, it's down to them whether a country joins, rather than strict geography.
152182
Often the goal of the united states was to be isolationist whenever possible as for much of the time we were still growing in strength as well. However, what you find in a lot of occasions, is that in the south america, or in the pacific, the united states gets involved to protect their interest. They intervne in order to gain territory, protect their ally, or whatever they case may be. They do it in Cuba, Panama, the Philippines among other places.
504885
Some of you may think this is a silly question, but it's really not. There is a trend, especially in Europe, for returning more power to states/provinces. Scotland now has its own government that decides most if not all of their domestic affairs. Catalonia in Spain wants independence. A few years ago Quebec came very close to leaving Canada. The fact of the matter is, culturally, the southern part of the U.S. is just really different then the northeast and western parts of the United States. Take a look of a map showing where the "red" states are and the "blue" states. See a trend? Just think about it; wouldn't a lot of you blue state folks be happier joining Canada in some great big socialist experiment?
353328
That is a question for the people of Puerto Rico to decide for themselves.  That question has been put to them at least three times in the past and each time, the people have voted to remain a territory.  I don't see that anything has changed sufficiently to make any difference today if the question were presented again.
409283
The immigration from Europe to the colonies started because of a desire for religious freedom from tyranny.  The Church and the State were too intertwined and both had become too political.
606034
After what happened at Ipperwash, the OPP are being a little bit more reserved, especially considering all of the media attention Caledonia is getting.\n\nWe need to get back to public order, similar to Oka Quebec. bring in the military to control the situation, then work on a peaceful solution.\n\nRottontothecore: does this mean we should give the entire North America back? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.?!?!
114873
Kind of assumes that every Scot wants independence which is not the case.  Wales is similar and Ireland is waaaaay more complicated due to its history.\n\nIndependence isn't simply signing a letter or changing politics there is a massive social and economic shift that needs to take place which may prove impractical (if not impossible) to ever put in place.  \n\nThis is not an occupation other than in the minds of a very very few people who harp back to before the Union of the Crowns.  I can only talk for what I know of the Scottish people, we are generally secure in our identity and the way we live our lives.  There is as much bitching about the Scottish Parliament as there is about the one in Westminster :-)
158233
Haiti's not a part of the U.S. We're not repsonsible for how things are run there or what's going on there. Of course we can provide aid and assistance, which I'm sure we are in some way, but there's only so much that the U.S. can do. We TOO have problems of our own to take care of including poverty and instability.\n\n\nHowever, there are ties to the U.S.\n\nHaiti has always been one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Much of this is due to post-independence schemes of the former colonial power- France. In 1838, the French agreed to recognize Haitian independence under the condition that Haiti pay 150 million francs (worth several billion dollars today) as an indemnity for the loss suffered by French slave owners in the loss of their slaves and plantations. Unable to make payments, Haiti, in an attempt to win international acceptance, was forced to seek loans totaling some seventy million francs. Not until 1862 did the United States finally recognize Haiti as a sovereign nation, and send diplomatic representation. Through the 19th century it was ruled by a series of dictators of varying degrees of incompetence. The outside world took little notice until 1915, when the country's unpayable debt led to American occupation.
462843
The West Indies is not actually a country. West Indies refers to the Caribbean islands as a whole.
141721
Personally, I'd like to add the Philippines as a state, but I'm not in charge.  So, I'll just pray that those in charge of such big decisions make it so!
101149
Some Quebecers believe in Independance from Canada. French Quebecers were second class people in there own province till about 1975. Best jobs and opportunities when to English people in Quebec. This has changed enough so that now that most educated youth in the province realized that being bilingual is the best advantage for both the English and French there.Independance issue in Quebec is used more as a tool to pry more Fed money from Canada. Educated people who come to visit Quebec see people that are polite and curtious and interesting. Unless they have names like RustyOwls.
189784
The Carribean is an archipelago of many islands, some big and some small. Not all of which are inhabited. Off the top of my head I cannot remember the names of any which arn't inhabited, but basically they would just be too small to be inhabited.\n\nSome of the islands would just be sand and a few palm trees, nothing substantial enough to build or live off.
560410
Country X is supporting terrorism through their inaction. If they won't do something to stop the deaths of millions of your people, you should be well within your rights to hold them accountable for the actions of their citizens, rebels or not. If you have to take them out just to fight the rebels on their home turf instead of yours, then so be it.
458788
The separation of Quebec from Canada would have disastrous results for bot... Canada is fine how it is.... I am truly baffled by their desire to separate.