The Principality of Andorra is a unique nation, which is likely to increase in importance on the world stage, if various other
aspects of the geopolitical shake up hypothesised here come to pass. It seems
that to truly achieve the Westphalian dream, which has too date never been fully
attained by Western Civilisation, it will be necessary to make sure that at
least for the Western Hemisphere we finally achieve the stated goal of the
western Enlightenment, of separating Church from State.
Currently we have a
massive blight to this goal, with the existence in the world of the Vatican City
State. Having such an entity in the world, which operates as a fully sovereign
state yet also ties to a specific denomination, has lead to all sorts of
corruption. This problem has also been exacerbated with the existence in this city-state of an extremely important
part of the Banking structure, the Vatican Bank, lying beyond the reach of
other states regulatory frameworks.
The only
solution going forward for this is to therefore abolish the Vatican City State.
Its sovereignty must be dissolved and its territory subsumed into the surrounding, secular, Italian nation. One must not use this however to curtail one billion
Catholics the right to practice their religion. Which is of course another
important pillar of the Westphalian model. A solution to this then would be to
move the Holy See, or the religious aspect of this power structure, to the
nation of Andorra.
Andorra is currently one of the last
vestiges of the Middle Ages, when Cardinals and Bishops had direct political
control over certain realms. Its current power structure involves having a
Catholic Bishop as its co-regent, directly in control of its Executive branch.
This makes it the perfect place to move the Holy See too.
It is different from
the Vatican however in that it recognises the balance of Church and State by
having the French President as its co-Prince. Indeed this is ironically one of
the few royalist titles the Republican French President receives on election,
Prince of Andorra. Therefore one can see an obvious solution to the problem currently gripping the secular west, as forces of older Imperial
structures attempt to reassert themselves. Restore the Vatican City as a
historical precinct to Italy. Dissolve the Vatican Bank completely. Move the
Pope to Andorra. This will invoke previous points of history, where France has
helped establish the rights of man over the rights of the theocracy. These
include the days of the Avignon Popes and in more recent history the Pope’s
period in Versailles, with Napoleon.
The Pope can become the new co-regent of
Andorra. His secular power will be curtailed by his co-regency, with the
democratically elected President of the 6th Republic of France. This
can allow the people to still have a democratic say in any of the secular moves,
which the Catholic Clergy may still seek to undertake.
Whilst this entire plan will
no doubt be fiercely opposed by conservative clerics, moderate clerics should
get behind it completely. This model will serve to protect the interests of the
billion Catholics around the world, thus allowing them to continue to practice their faith
if they so choose. It will also take the sting out of a rising anti clerical
movement that is building in Europe, as it historically does when the
corruption of the Roman Empire gets so far out of hand. By backing these moves
the moderate Clergy should be able to help avoid any unfortunate blood letting, like we traditionally see levelled against the Catholic clergy, when Europe
enters its revolutionary periods. A revolutionary period that is inevitable
after the European Union collapses.
Indeed as many see the European Union as
yet another attempt to create a united Roman Reich, in the vein of the First
Reich, the risk of future conflict yet again being couched in terms of
Protestant and Secularists on one side, pitted against Catholic on the other, rises immensely as the project fails. Yet again using a plan for Andorra, such
as this, could help avoid catastrophic blood shed across the continent and still
meet the needs of all the factions in a way that could truly bring stability to
the world system.
Because of the central importance that
Andorra will need to take, in this future geopolitical model, there is no
suggestion that its territory will change from that which it has had for its
lengthy existence. It certainly will not merge with any wider Catalan speaking
state because of its importance as an independent Principality, for the reasons
laid out above. Therefore Andorra will remain a nation made up of the Andorra
la Vella, Canillo, Encamp, Escaldes-Engordany, La Massana, Ordino and Sant
Julia de Loria Parishes, which it currently owns.
The flag of Andorra was adopted in 1866.
It uses the Tricolour pattern of the revolutionary Republican flags of the
time. However it did not become a full republic, during the upheavals of that
century. It maintains the Catalan colours in its flag, as it is part of the
Catalan speaking world. It also references the French colours due to its ties
to the Republic and its President.
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