# What's the Deal with the Falkland Islands? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 25, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629 "2012-01-25T19:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/401 "2015-11-24T15:22:47Z")
And a love of beef! ---
**Author:** ![nicky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f0a364/32.png) [@nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicky)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/402 "2015-11-26T20:40:54Z")
And rugby. And welsh. If argentina played nice the falklands would be theirs in 2 generations. Play nice, drop all claims, then every spring send squads of pretty and handsome 20 somethings on holiday there to “take one for the nation” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/403 "2015-11-27T04:32:09Z")
> [@nicky](#): > > …Play nice, drop all claims, then every spring send squads of pretty and handsome 20 somethings on holiday there to “take one for the nation” “Lie back and think of… Las Malvinas!” ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/404 "2015-11-27T16:46:45Z")
Deliver three hot, raven haired latino honeys, and three strapping, well educated brit lads every year to add new blood to what must be, by now, a population with some inbreeding issues. Not being mean, but a baby was born there last year that had wool. Slowly and gently mix the populations by birth and marriage, building social bonds while simultaneously improving the general sexiness quotient. A seduction of the nations in the age old way. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/405 "2015-11-27T19:28:27Z")
That sounds pretty discriminatory to me. How come the Falkland Islander ladies don’t get a crack at some hot Latino guys? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/406 "2015-11-27T20:01:20Z")
Oh, policy review already ? ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/407 "2015-11-30T08:39:17Z")
One major aspect is the historic influence of “geopolitics”(geopolítica) in Argentina, and Latin America in general. Latin American geopolitics can be summed up as a belief that “to govern is to populate” and the maintenance of central authority and territorial integrity is essential. The loss of land to other nations and secessionist movements are grave threats. These ideas also inspire several South American claims to Antarctic lands (Argentina boasts of having the first child born on that continent), and territorial competition with Chile (notice Tierra del Fuego is split, and has created many examples of friction between Chile and Argentina). Among neighboring countries, Bolivia perhaps has an even more bitter grudge with Chile over the loss of its old coast. In fact, I think Bolivia and Paraguay serve as very negative examples to Argentines of the risks of losing geopolitical struggles. Latin America has other “Falklands” situations that emerge from time to time, Guatemala’s claim to Belize, Venezuela’s claim to much of Guyana, Peru and Ecuador’s contested border, and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/408 "2023-08-04T21:28:26Z")
Bumped. Just came across this 1983 US Navy analysis of the Falklands War. A bit repetitive, but some interesting stuff in it: [https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA133333.pdf](https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA133333.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/409 "2023-08-12T22:13:27Z")
Bit of a tangent, but there were a few references upthread to the Falkland Islanders becoming oil millionaires in the near future. Is this any closer to happening now than to when this thread was started? ---
**Author:** ![MrLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@MrLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrLee)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/410 "2023-08-16T10:38:18Z")
A few years ago, I spent 4 months backpacking around Argentina (_marvelous_ country, by the way…), and I was struck by just _how much_ “LAS ISLAS MALVINAS SON ARGENTINAS” was written _everywhere_. Graffiti, posters, signs, statues - you could be in a backwater town in the middle of no-where close to the Bolivian border and sure enough there would be angry claim to the territorial right to the Falkland Islands plastered _somewhere_ nearby. Weirdly, no Argentine that I ever spoke to ever brought it up - and when I did (tentatively - I am British, after all), all I ever got back was shrugs like “meh, we’ve got bigger things to worry about” - which they do. The impression I got was that this was overwhelmingly governmental sabre-rattling, and that the average Argentine couldn’t give two shits. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/411 "2023-08-16T13:13:10Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I say the Falklands should confederate with Chile or maybe Brazil. It would provide them with better growth prospects than with geographically closer Latin American countries and enhanced political sanity. Relatively speaking. Realistically, the Falkland Islands don’t have a lot of “growth prospects” no matter who they’re affiliated with. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/412 "2023-08-16T20:54:38Z")
Crypto, man. You gotta think out of the box. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629.md?page=20)