Will Scotland elect to separate from Britain? I don't know and would like to hear from any UK nationals what they think. But if it does I don't think they would automatically become a member of NATO, though there is nothing in the charter that addresses this situation. Will the Scots apply for membership? Again, I don't know and would like to hear from any Scots on the question. Should they be admitted if they do apply, and what capabilities do they bring to the table. Being a NATO skeptic, I would say no, but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise.
It will be a close vote however I believe and hope the vote is in favour of the Union. All the polling show a 38-45% vote for independence and a 55% plus vote for the Union. The issue for the Union is that it can't use resources and people from other parts of the UK. So it is rather inept Scottish politicians having to do the job. Alex Salmond leader of the pro-independence campaign has been thinking about and planning this referendum for a decade. He and the Scottish nationalists wanted the referendum the Unionist didn't and in my view it shows. On an independence Scottish military and NATO. Alex Salmond's defence plan holds no submarine, no fighter jets. This is an issue for NATO they also oppose nuclear weapons. They would want to join NATO but more to sponge of the US, than to pay an active part in NATO. In any case it will take an independence Scotland a decade to build up its military infrastructure and C2. However once Scotland has done so and sort out its procurement and military policy it could have a capable deployable force much like that of Portugal.
Technically [Art. 10, NATO treaty] to become member of NATO a country has to be invited by the Alliance on the base of the consensus of all the members. This could mean that en eventual UK veto could block the entry of Scotland in NATO [in hypothesis, it's evident that it's also UK interest to have a NATO member at its Northern borderline].
Is it though. The rest of the UK will want to maintain its domination over Scotland. Keeping it out of NATO and in need of UK protect will increase its influence possibly to get Scotland to rejoin the Union. It will also give people in the rest of the UK a reason to support maintain current UK defence capabilities.
