Geopolitics in the South Atlantic: Contemporary Governance and the UK Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

• Author: Klaus Dodds
• Pages: 217-236

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- GEOPOLITICS IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC -

Geopolitics in

the South Atlantic:

Contemporary Governance and the UK

Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands

(Islas Malvinas)

INTRODUCTION

Well, firstly colonialism is well and truly dead. We no longer feel as

though we are a colony, and the UK does not act towards us as

though we were. This must be something of a disappointment to the

Argentines who still continue to claim the Falklands, since a key part

of their claim is that we [sic] are a colonial relic; and indeed their

aspirations are entirely colonial (Councillor Mike Summers OBE,

2006).

In contrast to much of this edited volume’s concern for the warmer

climes of the Caribbean, this chapter focuses on the colder environment

of the South West Atlantic and specifically the two hundred odd islands

that are known to Anglophone readers as the Falkland Islands. To

Argentines and to the wider Spanish-speaking community, those islands

located off the Patagonian continental shelf are called the Islas Malvinas.

This difference in place names is not simply a matter of semantics.

A quarter of a century ago, a conflict was fought between Britain and

Argentina that sought to determine the question of ownership. Although

British forces prevailed in June 1982, after a brief period of Argentine

occupation, the question has not been settled. Successive Argentine

governments have declared that they intend to seek to reintegrate the

islands into the national territory of the Republic. Indeed, the 1994

Argentine Constitution commits future governments to that legal and

geographical task. As the constitution notes:

First – The Argentine Nation ratifies its legitimate and non-prescribing

sovereignty over the Malvinas, Georgias del Sur and Sandwich del

KLAUS DODDS

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Sur Islands and over the corresponding maritime and insular zones,

as they are an integral part of the National territory. The recovery of

said territories and the full exercise of sovereignty, respectful of the

way of life of their inhabitants and according to the principles of

international law, are a permanent and unrelinquished goal of the

Argentine people (Argentine Constitution 1994).

For the purposes of this chapter, I will refer to the islands as the Falklands

because the bulk of concern is with the developments affecting the resident

English-speaking community.

As with Gibraltar, the subject of Peter Gold’s subsequent chapter, the

Falkland Islands remains a contested overseas territory. While there have

been unquestionably important changes in contemporary Anglo-Spanish

relations, it might be argued that the Falklands remains the most

problematic element of Britain’s overseas portfolio. This may seem a

surprising claim in the sense that the Falklands, as the chapter shows, is

economically successful and much changed, as the opening quote from a

leading Falklands politician suggests, from the pre-1982 times. It has neither

suffered a major natural disaster (Montserrat) nor provoked concerns about

governance and financial probity (for example some of the Caribbean

overseas territories). Notwithstanding that British military victory, Argentina

has not dropped its claim and does not, pace Councillor Mike Summers

(2006), consider the question of colonialism to be ‘dead’.

The reference to ‘geopolitics’ in this chapter is, therefore, a deliberate

one because the question of ‘governance’ with regards to the Falklands is

inevitably conditioned by the contested nature of the South West Atlantic

region and its southerly connections with the Antarctic. Recent attempts

by the British government (FCO Draft Paper ‘Good Governance’,

November 2006) to enhance the governance of the overseas territories will

inevitably have to confront and manage an eclectic group, which includes

the legally contested Falklands and South Georgia. The changing state of

relations with Argentina and, for that matter, neighbouring Chile continue

to play an important role in shaping the circumstances of one of Britain’s

most southerly overseas territories. The recent administration of President

Nestor Kirchner returned to the familiar theme of recovering the islands

for the Argentine Republic. As he noted, ‘The Malvinas must be a national

objective of all Argentineans, and with dialogue, diplomacy and peace we

must recover them for our homeland’ (cited in The Guardian, 2006).