'United we stand, divided...'

A week from now, voters in Scotland, which represents a bit over 8% of the United Kingdom population, decide whether to stay part of it or become a separate country.

In general, the history of the New World has been characterized by separate territories uniting to become bigger ones and most of their citizens seem happy with that - the notable exception being Québec in Canada; "les Québecois sont très mécontents" as it was explained to one of us.

Despite the umbrella of the European Union, the Old World in contrast has been more interested in splitting up in the last quarter century - among other examples, the former Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.

Now a high proportion of Scots want to break away from the United Kingdom which Scotland has been part of since 1706.  Until recently, opinion polls showed a clear majority against splitting, but the most recent polls show about even figures. Viewed from the other side of the pond, the disadvantages of disuniting well outweigh the advantages, but there's no quelling petty nationalism.