I see what you mean, however the Scots have their own Parliament and two governments (Scottish and UK). They could transfer some more power from the UK governme

I see what you mean, however the Scots have their own Parliament and two governments (Scottish and UK). They could transfer some more power from the UK government to Scotland through further negotiations or proclaim independence. The latter however has its disadvantages, as the supposedly newly created Scotland would not be part of any union and then there's also the case of the UK's nuclear weapons controlled by the London government. Thus I personally believe negotiation is the better option, especially now that the London government is in a weakened position due to 'brexit going badly'. https://www.deliveringforscotland.gov.uk/scotland-in-the-uk/devolution/ https://www.deliveringforscotland.gov.uk/scotland-in-the-uk/... I doubt a country teams up with other countries for defence purposes as long as they don't also share the defence costs, the exception here being the US. Of course, this comes at the price of hosting US troops and installations operated by the US on foreign soil and also becoming a potential target to US enemies. This also doesn't quite work if for instance Texas were to secede from the US and then asked for US protection if it got attacked by Mexico. The US would probably occupy Texas and told them to shut up and put up with the US military or the federal government in charge of running the show. What other options does Scotland have, ask France for military protection? Because the EU does not yet have an army.