Argentina and The Falklands

I just don't get the logic of some people's opinions. How should we define who should have sovereignty of anywhere in a global sense?

Should sovereignty depend on the wishes of the people living there? Self determination is a powerful argument. As a nation we don't hold any place against its will. Falklands, Gibraltar and Northern Ireland currently chose to be British. Other people don't have this choice. The Catalans are not given a choice and States in the USA don't have a mechanism for leaving.

Should sovereignty be determined by who was there first? The Falklands were unoccupied before the colonial era. The first European said to have landed on the island was an Englishman Jack Strong in 1690. The east island was settled by France and the west by Britain many years before Argentina existed. In fact if we go by this rule Argentina should be given to its indigenous people.

Should sovereignty depend on proximity? This isn't much of an argument when both sides of the argument are a result of European colonialism as is all of the Americas. I would be ok for the European settlers on the Falklands to give up sovereignty as long as all the other governments of the Americas did the same. Russia could also give up all of its Asian territory.

The only claim Argentina has to the Islands is that its European population inherited the South Atlantic territory granted by the Pope in the 15th century. They can fuck off.
Imo the only way it can realistically be decided is by the people who are there now.

If we go by who was there first what do we do with those that arent "ethnically pure" to that land/country/region? Look at Northern Ireland for that. I know one or two of our more bizarre posters have said all descendants of emigrants should go home but back in the real world....
Proximity?
So the Falklands can claim Argentina as there own?

(I know you weren't advocating the more bizarre suggestions above 😉)
 


Imo the only way it can realistically be decided is by the people who are there now.

If we go by who was there first what do we do with those that arent "ethnically pure" to that land/country/region? Look at Northern Ireland for that. I know one or two of our more bizarre posters have said all descendants of emigrants should go home but back in the real world....
Proximity?
So the Falklands can claim Argentina as there own?

(I know you weren't advocating the more bizarre suggestions above 😉)
This should go for all nations and it's a difficult one. It's harsh on Palestinians or whatever but we can't turn back the clock and if we could where would we draw the line? :confused:
 
I dont think it's a coincidence that its the @mad cyril , @bagpuss and @wicketkeeper types on this forum that are always so critical of the uk and its allies but other countries can do no wrong.

Imagine thinking justifiable for Argentina to militarily force the Falklands to become Argentinians

where have I criticised the UK ?
I just dont agree with you false patriots over our bully boy imperialism.
 
I just don't get the logic of some people's opinions. How should we define who should have sovereignty of anywhere in a global sense?

Should sovereignty depend on the wishes of the people living there? Self determination is a powerful argument. As a nation we don't hold any place against its will. Falklands, Gibraltar and Northern Ireland currently chose to be British. Other people don't have this choice. The Catalans are not given a choice and States in the USA don't have a mechanism for leaving.

Should sovereignty be determined by who was there first? The Falklands were unoccupied before the colonial era. The first European said to have landed on the island was an Englishman Jack Strong in 1690. The east island was settled by France and the west by Britain many years before Argentina existed. In fact if we go by this rule Argentina should be given to its indigenous people.

Should sovereignty depend on proximity? This isn't much of an argument when both sides of the argument are a result of European colonialism as is all of the Americas. I would be ok for the European settlers on the Falklands to give up sovereignty as long as all the other governments of the Americas did the same. Russia could also give up all of its Asian territory.

The only claim Argentina has to the Islands is that its European population inherited the South Atlantic territory granted by the Pope in the 15th century. They can fuck off.
I always find it very disappointing that so many consider the British peace keeping missions that we have been involved with like Northern Ireland are seen as a military occupation in which where the atrocities of the IRA are seen as seen as somehow acceptable. I do agree that perhaps we should have let the daft twats kill each other. Leaving the British South Georgia and Falkland Islanders to accept a foreign invasion is a different matter.
 
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I always find it very disappointing that so many consider the British peace keeping missions that we have been involved like Northern Ireland are seen as a military occupation in which where the atrocities of the IRA are seen as seen as somehow acceptable. I do agree that perhaps we should have let the daft twats kill each other. Leaving the British South Georgia and Falkland Islanders to accept a foreign invasion is a different matter.
I'm sure the governments of the time would have loved to walk away from a money pit that had no real resources in Northern Ireland but the majority of people there want to be British.

Until there is a universality accepted definition of the conditions that should determine sovereignty we should keep the status quo.
 
All this bullish talk of "ownership" and "property" from boorish deluded Billy Britains.

Time for humans to evolve a step further and scrap invented borders between countries once and for all. Nobody "owns" anybody else. No need for all that military spending and manpower and R&D anymore. We could spend it all on making everyone's lives better instead. Crazy communistic nonsense, I know.
 
I really hope we find a fuck ton of oil there now, just to spite the fuckers.
All this bullish talk of "ownership" and "property" from boorish deluded Billy Britains.

Time for humans to evolve a step further and scrap invented borders between countries once and for all. Nobody "owns" anybody else. No need for all that military spending and manpower and R&D anymore. We could spend it all on making everyone's lives better instead. Crazy communistic nonsense, I know.
In a sense, yes.
But no reason to start with this specific case, whilst being bullied. That's hardly the platform to begin on.
 

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