Nationalism

The problem with Spanish nationalism, is its direction. No-one can believe that they are the willing victims and globalisation has allowed terror tactics to invade international sovereign law. The Falklands is becoming one of those issues, where Argentina is clearly guilty of international war crimes. The war cost many untold British lives and Argentina has no rights to defend itself with, this the reason this conflict is becoming an issue in non-aligned states.

The Falklands has of course had many owners. The law is that it has independent status, but will not be vulnerable to international piracy. Here lies the problem, the war is becoming a cause in non-Anglo British territories and the intervention is now an historical complaint in British law. This matters not to those who can easily take the islands which lie off the Argentinian mainland. The other aligned states have less to gain, but a victory would please many political actors in the Spanish camp.

The military side is more complicated, because a British victory is not condoned by its allies. Even strategy has become an issue and the political conflict is neither desirable or detected by those on this side of the conflict. In fact a joint approach would solve the problem through international peace negotiations. But many aligned states have the opportunity to bring this about, and fail consistently to do so.

The Falklands remain a military district or close to it, and secrecy covers most of its tactics. The world has become a diplomatic stance about island, small and unheard of by most of its population. The Falklands is neither worth the cost or the effort of defending a political strategy of this uncertain calibre. But Argentina has nothing to lose either by giving up the territories. The Falklands has no oil as has been publicised to a degree which has increased pressure for war.

The social side is less exciting. The war has cost many combatants and non-combattants their lives, and is worthy in a sadistic way of the publicity this international division has caused. The Falklands is becoming a war grave issue, in fact the Argentinians have the most public record of their war dead. The islands may have caught the publicity of the newspapers, but the history is quite different and none of the British social cost is likely to be known.

The economic side may have British backers more excited, there is some chance that the islands could be told to surrender under certain terms and conditions and peace talks are not this side of the equation. The true loss is for soldiers and their families, the political actors have the Shakespearian sonnet. I like to thinks the children will be proud of their soldiers, I suggest they will never know why they fought or who was responsible.

The justice side is unenviable, international law is clouded on the issue of soldiers. But political actors are unlikely to be tried in this conflict. he state can well afford a diplomatic loss, and the winners will be those who pay the salaries of the bureaucrats like the Ministries of Defence. The Falklands are not responsible for the wars it concludes, the chance is low that other states will intervene. The history may suggest that globalisation was the real target of Argentina, but no international treaty is likely to declare it. The sense is that the islands care not at all and the winner is likely to be human rights.