George Canning, Foreign Secretary and for a short time, Prime Minister, in the 1820’s claimed he had brought The New World into existence to redress the balance of the old. The Foreign Office had done one of its major gear shifts again.
Spain from Napoleon
just over a decade before, Britain
was now allowing the Spanish Empire in South America to fall apart into a
number of independent states;
included, rather than assist it further. Argentina
This was the politics of reality, if
could not hold on to these territories, who would then be the chief
influence? Spain France
was certainly in the hunt and worse our former enemy the had its own
ambitions, signalled by The Monroe Doctrine. USA
Britain could offer diplomatic support for an emerging nation and access to goods and services unobtainable from elsewhere. The logic for
to be close to
was inescapable. In return, Britain would
be a prime buyer of anything it had to offer. Britain
One price was that Britain needed naval bases which a generation later would be coaling stations in order to cover the route around Cape Horne for both its trade with the West Coast of the Americas and parts of the East.
The Falklands, or Malvinas were a barren and unfriendly spot but a good shelter in a storm and there were a lot of storms in the
Atlantic. In time a few
people came and some remained. They had
little to offer except grazing and a very quiet life, at least when the wind
In the century that followed the importance of
to Britain is shown by the
appointment of Ministers Plenipotentiary to shortly after independence was
gained. This office late in the 19th
Century became Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary. Buenos Aires
Looking down the list of names of these men they were top draw civil servants, people who were very well connected and who had direct access to the highest in the land.
was seen as a key and
important post. This must mean that that
it was very important to trade, finance and influence. Argentina
During this time there was constant negotiation and work dealing with a range of matters at the highest level. What, therefore was going on in relation to The Falklands, if it ever figured much in the continuing relationships?
Were anyone to “sweat” the Foreign Office files for all of this there will be a range of treaties, agreements, negotiations and understandings that will be substantial. This needs an expertise probably lost to the present commercial managers at the Foreign Office.
But there is likely to be a lot there and some of it critical to the present issue. My purely amateur guess is that the 1881 to 1884 period of office of Sir George Glynn Petre may be a key period. It was a time when the new Liberal Government headed by
was trying to sweep up the extensive mess left by Disraeli who was not a man
for detail and who had a cavalier attitude to foreign and imperial affairs. Gladstone
Today, we have a Prime Minister who is not a man for detail and jumps in and out of issues to suit the mood of the moment. He will need to get a grip on this because it has a nasty potential. Hague The Vague, the present Foraging Secretary will not be much help.
Nor can we hope for anything from the
where the President sees the
as much as an opponent as anything else.
All that human rights stuff for the existing population of The Falklands
will be colonial garbage to him. UK
What will matter will be the opinions of the substantial Latino component of the support for the Democrat’s at present. This is likely to favour
because it is “Latin”, whatever that is.
Also The President is another who does not do “detail”, either
historical or legal, if it conflicts will any latest opinion poll. Argentina
It is odd that The Falklands dispute is not really about the
Islands. As a land investment they are almost
worthless. It is what is in and under
the sea in what might be defined as its territorial waters that matters, for
those who can afford to put their hands on it.
This is not the nation states involved.
is broke, the UK is broke,
the USA is broke and Europe is broke.
So the real future lies with the major corporations who do have the
money and the will.
Who are they and what do they want?