Falklands

[HoreTore]

Let 'em have it, I say.

Why the brits feel they can own a piece of land on the other side of the globe is beyond me, really. It's closest to Argentina, and as such it's appropriate for the islands to belong to Argentina.

But I guess the Brits need something to remind themselves of a time when other nations actually cared about them....

[InsaneApache]

Let 'em have it, I say.

Why the brits feel they can own a piece of land on the other side of the globe is beyond me, really. It's closest to Argentina, and as such it's appropriate for the islands to belong to Argentina.

But I guess the Brits need something to remind themselves of a time when other nations actually cared about them....

Dear oh deary me. Following your logic, Alaska should be Canadian, the Channel Islands should be French, oh and Norway should be Swedish.

The people who actually live there want to remain British. It's not that hard really!

[Pannonian]

Let 'em have it, I say.

Why the brits feel they can own a piece of land on the other side of the globe is beyond me, really. It's closest to Argentina, and as such it's appropriate for the islands to belong to Argentina.

But I guess the Brits need something to remind themselves of a time when other nations actually cared about them....

Because we can.

[HoreTore]

Dear oh deary me. Following your logic, Alaska should be Canadian, the Channel Islands should be French, oh and Norway should be Swedish.

Yes, and what would be the problem with that?

Because we can.

Gordon Brown should troll some forums for his e-penis enlargment instead....

[Myrddraal]

Dear oh deary me. Following your logic, Alaska should be Canadian, the Channel Islands should be French, oh and Norway should be Swedish.

Q.E.D.

Yes, and what would be the problem with that?

On a personal level I don't really care, but the people of Alaska, the Channel Islands and even some in Norway might. On a side note, I think they should make you Norwegian envoy to Northern Ireland. I'd love to see the faces of the NI assembly when you address them: "Ladies and Gentlemen, yesterday I took out my ruler and found that NI was right next to the republic of Ireland, but my ruler was not even long enough to reach Wales! Stop the violence!"

[naut]

Why the brits feel they can own a piece of land on the other side of the globe is beyond me, really. It's closest to Argentina, and as such it's appropriate for the islands to belong to Argentina.

Except 70% of the population are British. The remaining 29% are Kelpers, who are ethnic Islanders with British citizenship. In fact less than 1% are Argie. The Spanish speakers on the Island are Chilean, mostly immigrants from San Helena. Additionally the Argies never owned it for a meaningful period of time.

I feel the same way about this as I do with Gibraltar. Keep it British for as long as the population feels they are British.

[InsaneApache]

Aye, and while we're about it, we'll have Australia back.

[tibilicus]

The Argies know if they try anything they will just get kicked into touch again. It's just a lot of talk, their sovereignty claims are weak and really invalid.

[Furunculus]

Why the brits feel they can own a piece of land on the other side of the globe is beyond me, really. It's closest to Argentina, and as such it's appropriate for the islands to belong to Argentina.

you might not care about the westphalian system of sovereign nation states, but i've yet to see any evidence that your view-point is in the majority, there is not even an accepted legal position on co-sovereignty that could replace the former.

Except 70% of the population are British. The remaining 29% are Kelpers, who are ethnic Islanders with British citizenship. In fact less than 1% are Argie. The Spanish speakers on the Island are Chilean, mostly immigrants from San Helena. Additionally the Argies never owned it for a meaningful period of time.

I feel the same way about this as I do with Gibraltar. Keep it British for as long as the population feels they are British.

Gibralter has no been in British possession longer than it has Spanish.

[naut]

Gibralter has no been in British possession longer than it has Spanish.

Yes. I was alluding to the 2002, Gibraltar sovereignty referendum.

Additionally the Argie government is using this to avoid addressing the internal problems they are facing. Nothing like a bit of nationalism to get everyone's mind off the real pressing matters at hand.

[Furunculus]

Yes. I was alluding to the 2002, Gibraltar sovereignty referendum.

np.

funnily enough, of the 194 years that the state of argentina has existed it only actually held de facto sovereignty of the falklands for the first 17 of them.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Let 'em have it, I say.

Why the brits feel they can own a piece of land on the other side of the globe is beyond me, really. It's closest to Argentina, and as such it's appropriate for the islands to belong to Argentina.

But I guess the Brits need something to remind themselves of a time when other nations actually cared about them....

But...HoreTore, what about the right of a people to determine their own destiny?

The Falklanders want to be British.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Argentina honest to God believes it has a good claim to the islands. They just delivered 600 kilos of documents to the UN.

Me, I must say that of all the disputed territories in the world, Argentina's claim to the Falklands is amongst the weakest. It is based on several dozen Buenos Aires fisherman having a semi-permanent camp on the islands in the early 19th century. Reinforced by the idea that the islands should be Argentinean because they are closer.

Oh, oh, the delusions of irredentism. That sense of amputation, of incompleteness, the idea that there can be no national contentment until the lost territory is regained. Never mind that Argentina has only been in possesion of the islands for little over a decade, during which they were little more than an extremely remote station, while the entire southern half of Argentina was as yet unexplored and unsettled.

The Malvinas are a central element of Argentinean nationalism, even identity.

I think Argentina has a sense of national unfullfilment, of national shortcoming. Argentina has never quite lived up to its promise. A century ago, it was richer than Norway, poised to be some sort of Canada. As they say,'Italians who speak Spanish and think they're British'. It ended all too soon. Stagnation set in, its middle classes forever under threat, the typical South American society of a very narrow elite and poor masses developed. (Be warned, US. The same mechanism threatens your society). Melancholy as the national sentiment developed.

When one enters Argentina, the first thing one sees is a large sign that says: 'The Malvinas are Argentinean'.

Let 'em have it, I say.

Why the brits feel they can own a piece of land on the other side of the globe is beyond me, really. It's closest to Argentina, and as such it's appropriate for the islands to belong to Argentina.

But I guess the Brits need something to remind themselves of a time when other nations actually cared about them....

I say you give Argentina the Svalbard Islands instead. Just why should you imperialists own these islands anyway.

While we're at it, Hawaii to Korea, Réunion to India and Madeira to Senegal!

[HoreTore]

Just why should you imperialists own these islands anyway.

We don't.

As Svalbard is about as close to Norway as it is to Russia, we co-own it with the russkies. You see, civilized people are capable of sharing their stuff

[Louis VI the Fat]

We don't.

As Svalbard is about as close to Norway as it is to Russia, we co-own it with the russkies. You see, civilized people are capable of sharing their stuff

That's because there is no oil near the Svalbard.

Will you share your oil rich North Sea possesions with the UK then? Because this is what Argentina is asking of the UK at the moment.

[HoreTore]

That's because there is no oil near the Svalbard.

Will you share your oil rich North Sea possesions with the UK then? Because this is what Argentina is asking of the UK at the moment.

Yes, with absolute equality to us Norwegians, just as the case is with the natural resources found there now. And there's plenty of coal there, and you've all had the opportunity to take part in the mining.

That's assuming oil will be extracted even if found though... Which doesn't sound very likely.

[therother]

Britain and Argentina did sign an agreement in 1995 to share any oil profits from the area. The Argentinians, under their previous President (husband of the current president), withdrew from that agreement in 2007, saying all the oil belonged to Argentina alone.

[Furunculus]

Britain and Argentina did sign an agreement in 1995 to share any oil profits from the area. The Argentinians, under their previous President (husband of the current president), withdrew from that agreement in 2007, saying all the oil belonged to Argentina alone.

"lol, then we'll keep it all then", has always been my attitude to that diplomatic tantrum.

[Louis VI the Fat]

All your oil are belong to the Argie

What insufferable insolence.

I say let Britain man their ships and set sail, and we'll move troops from the Crimea and land in the South. Show these upstarts who rule the world.


Wait...I keep forgetting I was born in the wrong century. Gah! To be born a 19th century imperialist.
What went wrong!?

[Beskar]

Is the Falklands a crown province like the Isle of Mann (Independent, but has the Queen at the top) ? or is it more directly controlled?

[Furunculus]

Is the Falklands a crown province like the Isle of Mann (Independent, but has the Queen at the top) ? or is it more directly controlled?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British...as_territories