Between the Cold War and the Global South: Argentina and Third World Solidarity in the Falklands/Malvinas Crisis (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Falklands/Malvinas War in the South Atlantic
2021
This book explores the Falklands War from an Argentinian perspective, taking into consideration three aspects. First, it introduces classified documents after the end of the thirty-year ban. Second, it highlights various conceptual, institutional, and doctrinal reforms in the Argentinian and other South American armed forces as a result of lessons learned from the Malvinas War. Third, it reflects on the war's long-term implications on Argentina’s foreign policy and society. The book offers the first comprehensive, multi-level analysis, and Argentinian scholarship on the conflict. It is based on original primary data, mainly official documentation and interviews with military officers and combatants.
A view from the South: the Falklands/Malvinas and Latin America
his paper examines the development of the conflict, which ultimately culminated in the Falklands/Malvinas War of 1982, in Latin America. Utilising sources from the Organization of American States and recently declassified Brazilian documents from the National Archive and the Foreign Ministry, the paper relates the specific Latin American perspective on the conflict and highlights what role the South Atlantic occupied in the regional and national imaginaries of Latin Americans.
The Falklands War and its Triple Impact: systemic, regional and local
Acta 2016, Local Wars - Global Impacts. 42nd International Congress of Military History,4 – 9 September 2016, 2018
The 1982 Anglo-Argentine war over the Falkland Islands, in which the United States “superpower” ultimately sided with the British vital ally against the Argentine important ally, had repercussions at systemic, regional and local levels. In the aftermath, the victorious Great Britain led by Margaret Thatcher was diplomatically strengthened. The victory rose the country’s morale, reversed its declining international posture and allowed the British to play a relevant role in the Cold War bipolar dynamics in the second half of the 1980s, including a leading position within NATO. Such leadership was welcomed in the US administration, where the Prime Minister increased her influence on issues concerning the Euro-Atlantic area. The Soviet Union appeared to be surprised by the British assertiveness shown during the war. This perception further complicated the Soviet precarious international situation. The Falklands victory, indeed, vigorously impacted upon the overall Western strategic posture. The lesson learned was that NATO had capabilities and will to fight when necessary. In Washington, Thatcher’s influence on systemic issues relating to the Euro-Atlantic context was not extended to other theaters, such as Latin America. The 1983 US invasion of the former British colony of Grenada, still a member of the Commonwealth Realm headed by the British Crown, was emblematic. The US support given to Britain in the 1982 South Atlantic war and the unilateralism shown in the Caribbean one year later imperiled the hemispheric pillar of US foreign policy and, therefore, weakened US hegemony over the Americas. The resulting anti-Yankee wave propagated across Latin America compromised almost definitely the inter-American multilateral system. Because of the military defeat in the Falklands war, Argentina concluded the era of military dictatorships and returned to democracy. This new manifestation of the ‘third wave of democratization’ gave further legitimacy to the idea of moral superiority of democracy over other forms of repressive governments and, consequently, of the Western system over Communism. Today the sovereignty over the Falklands remains an open issue. The rivalry between Argentina and Britain has been recently rekindled by diplomatic attacks of neo-colonialism on both sides. The 1982 war and its memory crystallized the two positions. Argentina asked for new diplomatic talks, but Britain has been refusing any dialogue for more than 34 years, upgrading on the contrary her military posture at the Islands. Also for this reason, a definitive agreement equally satisfactory for the two counterparts does not appear to be on the horizon.
Revisiting the Falklands-Malvinas Question. Transnational and Interdisciplinary Perspectives.
University of London Press, 2021
Forty years after the Falklands War, the causes and consequences of the military conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 still reverberate. The archipelago that makes up the Falkland-Malvinas Islands is surrounded by complexities and antagonisms—including controversy around its very name. This book interrogates the conflict with approaches from history, political science, sociology, film, and cultural studies. Additionally, this collection brings together English, Spanish, and Argentine specialists and researchers. It includes testimony from war veterans and exiles, essays on the films of Julio Cardoso, and Argentine patriotism as witnessed in contemporary literature and pedagogy. By taking up these different perspectives, Revisiting the Falklands-Malvinas Question moves beyond traditional approaches to the conflict based on nationalism, geopolitics, or military achievements, leading to a more expansive discussion.
The Socialist International and the Malvinas/Falklands war (full article)
This article shows a different approach on the Malvinas/Falklands War issue that faced off Argentina and England in 1982. The war has been studied, mainly, from the warlike point of view or by the impact it generated in the disputing countries. However, the consequences of the military conflict between two western block countries have been wider and not properly tackled.
Stormy waters: Britain, the Falkland Islands and UK–Argentine relations
This article considers Britain’s relationship with the Falkland Islands and the wider context of UK–Argentine relations. It does so by considering three main themes. First, the current Argentine government’s strategy towards the Falklands (Islas Malvinas) and the manner in which the question of disputed ownership has been tied into wider Latin American relationships designed to unsettle UK and Falkland Islands interests. Second, the debate surrounding the defence of the Falklands is examined for the purpose of considering how this issue, especially sensitive given the 30th anniversary of the 1982 conflict, brings into sharp relief the implications of recent defence and spending reviews. Finally, the article aims to assess and evaluate the manner in which the Falkland Islands community engages with and responds to worsening UK–Argentine relations. It is concluded that UK–Argentine relations are in their worst state since 1982 and that there is little or no prospect of any improvement given the Argentine government’s commitment to force the UK into entering sovereignty negotiations. On its side, the UK and the Falkland Islands’ community do not believe that sovereignty is negotiable and would rather consider how more cordial relations could be established in a manner reminiscent of the late 1990s.
The Argentinian Dictatorship and its Legacy, 2019
The chapter discusses the variegated modes in which the Argentine society dealt with the defeat of the Malvinas/Falklands war (1982) after the dictatorship. It identifies a series of key moments that galvanized interpretations and disputes about the war. In particular, the patriotic cult of the ideas of nation and killed in combat were put into question not because of the war’s outcome but rather by those that took part of the armed conflict. In this way, the chapter explores “Malvinas” in its different social, cultural and geographical scales as a way of questioning shallow and totalizing interpretations.
Falklands Wars – the History of the Falkland Islands: with particular regard to Spanish and Argentine pretensions and taking some account of South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and Britain's Antarctic Territories , 2024
Twelve years after the last United Nations General Assembly resolution in 1988, Argentina could not admit that the debate over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands had, in effect, been settled. No Argentine government could admit that it had, not without a serious risk of, at the least, public protest and possible violent disorder. President Menem had withdrawn the question from the General Assembly, leaving only the UN's annual Decolonization Committee meetings as an international forum where Argentina's claims could still be aired. Or was it? Perhaps other opportunities could be found among the myriad of international groups and clubs that nations' join to further their political/geopolitical interests. Argentine government had to be seen to be doing something. This chapter details the actions, in particular, of the 12 years of Kirchner presidential administrations and the noise those produced in forums around the world.
International Journal of Military History and Historiography, 2022
The 1982 Falklands/Malvinas conflict pitted two of the most foundational principles of postwar international relations-anti-colonialism and self-determinationagainst each other, creating dilemmas for the great powers and smaller states alike in determining where to place their loyalties. The British consistently upheld the self-determination of the islanders, while portraying the war as a struggle between the forces of democracy and those of dictatorship. Though the United States strove for the appearance of neutrality, support for the United Kingdom resulted in the effective abandonment of the anti-colonialism of the Monroe Doctrine. The Soviet Union viewed the war as an anachronistic return to open imperialist aggression, and backed the fiercely anti-communist military junta in Argentina, even as it waged what was viewed as a "third world war" against the transnational forces of Marxism-Leninism. Meanwhile, the countries of the Western Hemisphere polarised into Latin American demands for decolonisation and the devotion of the Anglophone Caribbean to the principle of self-determination. This division was reflected in the debates and resolutions of the Organization of American States, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the United Nations.