The Falklands/Malvinas dispute may qualify as the oldest in Western Hemispheric diplomatic history. Despite the scant economic and strategic value of the islands, major powers have coveted them from the late eighteenth century on. Argentina conducted the latest military assault on the islands in 1982 but failed to wrest them from the British. That war prompted the hook under review. The Hoffmanns provide a narrative outline of the disputed ownership of the Falkland/Malvina Islands from the sixteenth century until the conclusion of the 1982 war. They also attempt to assess the impact of the war on inter-American relations.
After describing the islands today, the authors go back to the islands’ first probable sighting by Vespucci in 1501. They then trace events down to the 1830s, when British forces seized the islands from Argentina. This section merely synthesizes Julius Goebel’s 1927 work. Like Goebel, they find more justice in Argentina’s position than in England’s.
The next section of the book describes Argentina’s efforts to regain sovereignty over the islands after World War II. Using international law and organizations, Argentine diplomats managed to force the British government into negotiations by 1965. For the next seventeen years talks were held, and though on several occasions negotiators came close to transferring sovereignty, they ultimately failed due to opposition from the islands’ tiny population and from the Falklands lobby in Parliament.
The final section of the book skims over the war itself and the various unsuccessful attempts to reduce bloodshed. The Hoffmanns conclude that the Argentines committed many errors in provoking the 1982 crisis, errors that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ably exploited for international and domestic political advantage.
Anyone looking for a brief history of the Falklands/Malvinas dispute may rely on this book. It is factually accurate and well-written, though based solely on secondary sources. The book’s faults are that it is biased in favor of the Argentine position and that its treatment of the consequences of the war is superficial. Still, it is a timely and valuable assemblage of information.
