I’VE aye been feart o Russia invadin. It’s the dey efter the final sinderin o Scotland fae the rUK. There’s been a wee bitty a pairty. We’re aa still stottin aboot steamin, the Saltires flutterin doon the high streets an the ceilidh bands chappin on wi their rhythms. The muckle heat o inflamed imaginations burnin in wir heids, alang wi whisky. Then aa o a sudden, thon metallic birlin soons ye get fae hunners o helicopters aa at aince come owre the strand fae the North Sea.

Russian tanks breengin doon Berwick High Street, sodgers coupin the mercat cross at Aiberdeen. Ye hae ainly tae leuk at whit Russia did tae the Republic o Georgia, or tae the Ukraine tae ken that gin ye arnae pairt o sic a defence wab as we are, ye’re in fir a sair dunt.

Obviously this isnae gonnae happen. I ken that, you ken that. Pairt o the inheritance o WWII is an integratit security netwark, a “touch ane, touch aa” approach that staps ane o the muckle aggressive countries takkin lumps oot o wee European neebor countries whan it suits them.

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But fae oor first day back on the international stage efter indyref2, the Russians, an aabdy else, will hae their agents ettlin tae brak in tae oor cooncils, banks, government stores, factories. Fishers will tak theirsels in tae “oor” watters tae see gin they can get awa wi pauchlin oor fish. “Oor” ile sits hunners o miles awa fae the mainland in cases, an wad be a skoosh tae interefere wi digitally or physically.

We wad be tuimheidit in the extreme tae unpick oorsels fae the likes o British Airmy, EU, Nato an whitiver ither security agreements we’re in the day efter independence. We’d be left ootside in the skuds wi the cauld snell wind blawin aboot wir bits.

It sticks in ma craw tae say it, but oor need fir security maks it siccar that we’ll be thirlt tae the rUK, the EU an Nato efter independence, gin we want it or no. But this isnae new. The 2014 Scottish Government White Paper gaed sae faur as tae caa fir shared airmy bases yaised bi baith the rUK an the Scottish airmies, wha, the paper claimit, wad hae shared military aims.

There’s a guid feck o fowk wha’d gang further an ettle tae mak a virtue o this security necessity. They wad gang agin aa the orthodoxy o independence an actually advocate us keepin a haud o Trident lang efter the vote.

This isnae a fringe opinion. Sic kenspeckle cheils as security consultant an independence supporter Stuart Crawford support the thriep that pragmatism aroon issues sic as Trident could gie us a vital caird tae play in the post-referendum negotiations wi the rUK, an keep us in the muckle security jaiket that keeps us mair-or-less protectit the noo.

Molly Davidson, Phd candidate sperin intae defence in an independent Scotland at the Varsity o Aiberdeen telt us that the SNP’s flit fae ideology tae pragmatism on the issue o defence wis shawn bi their commitment tae Nato in 2012.

“Gin ye arnae pairt o Nato, then ye wadnae be seen as a ‘guid player o the gemme’ on an international level. I wis telt bi a body within the SNP that, gin they hadnae joined wi Nato, then they wadnae be acceptit intae the EU. Fir a country wi sic geostrategic importance as Scotland, wi its links tae the High North is pairt o the first line o defence fae Russia. We’d need tae uphaud that”

The “High North” as its kent in security circles is the space atween Scotland, Iceland, the Nordic countries. It’s stappit fu wi relatively totty wee nations, an wad be the back door tae Europe, gin it wisnae steekit wi a security collaboration awteen aa the wee states, America an Nato. Scotland is a vital memmer o the pairty here.

Ms Davidson sees it as inevitable that Scotland will hae tae “accommodate” the High North security pairtnership. “We will be a small state, we’ll hae need o allies. Oor geostrategic importance gies us the chance tae mak these allies.”

This wilnae be an easy idea tae get owre tae the triumphant thrang on the streets o ilka toon in the deys an weeks efter independence. The (presumably) SNP government then stairts tellin aabdy that the thing that maitters maist tae them – gettin Trident tae f**k – is exactly whit they are no gonnae dae. It’s a central pairt o the independence ideology. An CND hae said that we could hae it oot aroon twa year efter independence.

But gin we decidit tae keep it oot o guid will fir aroon a decade or mair, it wad be a tremendous boon tae negotiations, an oor emergence ontae the warld stage as a stable player. The rUK micht even wipe aff oor share o the national debts as pairt o the agreements. We wad also bide on the inside o the complex military an intelligence netwark we’re in the noo.

In the wey pragmatism an an improved unnerstannin o warld pressures causit the SNP tae jouk oot o their auld anit-Nato policy, sae we may yet see their fervour cool on the reddin oot o Trident fae oor country.

Fir aa the dishonour tae oor nation that gien bield tae nuclear weapons dis, in the immediate days efter independence we’ll hae sair need o bairganin chips. There micht weel be hunners o differences atween the Brexit bourach an the Yes movement, but they are lairnin us lessons wi their galikitry doon sooth.

The Brexiteers are sinderin theirsels fae a pooerfu freen an ally in a wey that’s makkin the EU intae a crabbit an ill-trickit negotiator. Gin we forcit Trident aff doon the Clyde afore negotiations even begun, we’d stairt discussions on a gey carnaptious fittin, settin oorsels up as adversaries insteid o new freenly neebors, an we’d seem a wanchancy new state tae the warld.

Fir mony, the hail jingbang o independence is aa aboot dichtin aa the colonial clart aff wir sheen the second we vote Aye. I get that.

Ma ain thocht is that Trident has been a shame tae oor nation fir a lang time nou. But the second we’re independent it becomes an asset. This radioactive nichtmare turns intae a symbol that we can yaise as a sign o oor reasonableness an stability on the warld stage an negotiatin table baith. It will ging eventually, but as this curse becomes a blessing, we’d be glaikit nae tae yaise it tae oor advantage.