To acknowledge the possibility is to invite it.

ik - from Andrew Coyne a while back. Ya, I don't like him either, but he's damn good at presenting a logical argument.

Of 89 countries surveyed in a recent C. D. Howe Institute study, all but a handful, 82 in all, have so written their constitutions as to forbid the secession of any part of their territory -- under any circumstances. In most cases, this is understood by the constitution's silence; in 22 countries, including Australia and France, the prohibition is explicit. In only seven countries was secession legal, subject to certain conditions: notably the agreement of the parent country. In no country -- none -- was it possible for a part or province to secede unilaterally.

... of the seven countries in the C. D. Howe study that allowed secession, two -- the Soviet Union and the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic -- are notable also for no longer being with us. To acknowledge the possibility is to invite it.