If Louisiana votes for independence, states from the rest of the middle of the US would follow Louisiana out, to avoid being dominated by California and New York, so we could form a federation with them for security.
Louisiana would continue to trade with the rest of the world. The US trades with 98% of the countries in the world. China doesn’t even embargo Taiwan. The US can’t afford the damage to its supply chains that would be caused by embargoing Louisiana or middle America. Moreover, a blockade is an act of war. Louisiana could retaliate by blocking US shipping through its rivers and airspace.
The Louisiana Military Department consists of the the Louisiana National Guard, the Louisiana Air National Guard, and the Louisiana State Guard. The State Guard can not be federalized. The other two are headed by the governor except when federalized. 63% of Louisianans polled support Louisiana imitating Utah’s new law that allows that state’s National Guard to transfer equipment to their State Guard.
When independence is peacefully negotiated with Congress, Louisiana can take her share of federal assets, such as military equipment, in return for taking her share of the federal debt and liabilities. Members of the US military will be given the option of transfer to the Louisiana Military Department.
If Louisiana spends the NATO standard of 5% of GDP on defense, her military spending will rank 24th – greater than that of 170 countries in the world. To deter attack, we only have to make an attack on Louisiana more costly to other countries than any benefits of the attack. We answer “Would withdrawing from the Union cause a civil war?” here.
