Joan Ramon Resina, professor of Iberian Studies at Stanford University, has published an article in US newspaper The Hill about the possibilities for United States influence on the Catalan independence process. The argument, in a piece entitled "American influence will help Catalonia win independence", is based on the right of self-determination, enshrined in international law.
Resina notes the strong historical influence the United States have had on Spanish politics, citing their work to "ensure Spain's decolonization of the Western Sahara in 1975, to reverse Spain’s decision to opt out of NATO in 1982, and to enroll Spain in the 2003 Iraq war". He believes, therefore, that US influence could be employed to "prevent a violent crackdown on defenseless Catalans and even to sponsor a negotiation". The professor also notes that the USA itself made "a declaration of independence against an oppressive legality", evoking the famous phrase "all men... are endowed...with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness", to argue that this "must be understood to include the protection of their political rights". Resina concludes: "The fathers of the American Constitution considered these principles to be based on reason and hence to be more permanent than the accidental lines circumscribing the power of states on the world’s political map."