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There is also no mechanism to leave under e.g. US Constitution (i.e. US States can never legally leave the Union). Similarly, no way to leave NATO, or any feder

There is also no mechanism to leave under e.g. US Constitution (i.e. US States can never legally leave the Union). Similarly, no way to leave NATO, or any federal sovereignty that I know of. So, this seems hardly odd; given UK was able to successfully and peacefully leave EU, we already know that it's possible to leave EU. You need to understand that EU invests ($$$) in each Member State, so one can argue the federal entity has incentive to make sure leaving is hard enough that no member can leave frivolously. (and from the opposite direction, one could argue federal entity should ensure leaving is not too hard, so as not to make the union undemocratic or despotic -- but that's a separate and debatable issue)

ben_w 4y ago
> no way to leave NATO I thought France left and rejoined a few decades later, have things changed since then or did they only leave a small part of NATO?
- gostsamo 4y ago
  They froze their membership. They did not leave, but they did not participate either. > France quit the unified NATO military command structure, but not the organization. This means that France agreed to help a NATO member if it was attacked but on its own terms. https://historyofyesterday.com/why-did-france-leave-nato-at-the-height-of-the-cold-war-41a64d35f6db?gi=57bf4735fdb1 https://historyofyesterday.com/why-did-france-leave-nato-at-...
  - ben_w 4y ago
    Thanks for the info; that seems weird, but no weirder than anything else in politics.
- dragonwriter 4y ago
  > I thought France left and rejoined a few decades later, have things changed since then or did they only leave a small part of NATO? France left the unified military command (in stages) but later returned. To a certain extent the partial breach seems to have been magnified for domestic purposes, as secret agreements on reintegration in the event of an East-West conflict have since come to light. They also have always been outside of the nuclear planning group. But, in any case, they never left the alliance.

ben_w 4y ago

> no way to leave NATO I thought France left and rejoined a few decades later, have things changed since then or did they only leave a small part of NATO?

gostsamo 4y ago
They froze their membership. They did not leave, but they did not participate either. > France quit the unified NATO military command structure, but not the organization. This means that France agreed to help a NATO member if it was attacked but on its own terms. https://historyofyesterday.com/why-did-france-leave-nato-at-the-height-of-the-cold-war-41a64d35f6db?gi=57bf4735fdb1 https://historyofyesterday.com/why-did-france-leave-nato-at-...
- ben_w 4y ago
  Thanks for the info; that seems weird, but no weirder than anything else in politics.
dragonwriter 4y ago
> I thought France left and rejoined a few decades later, have things changed since then or did they only leave a small part of NATO? France left the unified military command (in stages) but later returned. To a certain extent the partial breach seems to have been magnified for domestic purposes, as secret agreements on reintegration in the event of an East-West conflict have since come to light. They also have always been outside of the nuclear planning group. But, in any case, they never left the alliance.