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> I think nowadays you can't properly set up a new state, period. You probably can, but just not where people want to. It all comes down to whether your count

> I think nowadays you can't properly set up a new state, period. You probably can, but just not where people want to. It all comes down to whether your country wins the military battles that inevitably take place, and one modern soldier can really do a lot these days. The US exists, for example, because the British absolutely bungled the response to the revolution. Nowadays, it would take a lot more incompetence from their end to lose territory; if the ground troops are all neutralized, just hit 'em with an ICBM or something. It's crazy the amount of resources you'd be up against. People are trying to secede from countries that literally have nuclear weapons. Your 3D printed guns aren't going to win against that. But, if you're fighting the local warlord or whatever, you probably have a chance.

akkartik 3y ago
You could secede from a nuclear power. Most sane people tend to not want to use them in/near their territory. So it's not enough to have military power, you need also the political will to use it. I get the sense India exists because the British were fatigued after WWII. There just wasn't the will to try to hold on to something they didn't feel like they had the moral right to anymore.
- jrockway 3y ago
  That's a very good example. In my mind I was thinking about the Falklands ("the empire strikes back" magazine cover floats ominously), but yeah. Britain could have nuked India if they wanted to. Civil wars are weird.