In 2013, 99.8% of Falkland Islanders voted to stay British. In 2026, Argentina sent Britain a two-week ultimatum anyway. Why won't it let go?
π [Timestamps] π
00:00 Argentina's Two-Week Ultimatum and the 99.8% Referendum
01:19 The 1833 Flag Change at Port Louis
03:29 The 74-Day War of 1982 and America's Backing of Britain
05:43 The 2013 Referendum and Argentina's Constitution
07:43 The $1.8 Billion Oil Fight
10:56 Why Argentina Won't Give Up
The Falklands, or the Malvinas, are about the size of Connecticut and home to fewer than 4,000 people, yet two countries have argued over them for nearly two centuries. In this class, Olivia measures the dispute with three yardsticks: who got there first, who used force first, and who lives there now. We start at Port Louis in 1833, where a flag changed hands without a shot fired, and where a U.S. warship had shown up a year earlier. Then come Reagan and Thatcher's tense phone call during the 74-day war of 1982, the 2013 referendum against the wording of a 1965 UN resolution, and the $1.8 billion Sea Lion oil project now headed for an international court in Hamburg.
π References & Further Reading:
1. U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian β Transcript of the ReaganβThatcher telephone call, May 31, 1982 (the "Alaska" exchange)
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1981-88v13/d315
2. United Nations Digital Library β UN General Assembly Resolution 2065 (XX), Question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), 1965
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/661370
3. NBC News β 99.8 percent of Falkland Islanders vote to retain British rule (2013 referendum)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/message-world-99-8-percent-falkland-islanders-vote-retain-british-flna1C8816716
4. Journal of Petroleum Technology (SPE) β Partners greenlight the Sea Lion project in the Falkland Islands
https://jpt.spe.org/partners-greenlight-sea-lion-project-in-falkland-islands
5. International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea β The "ARA Libertad" Case (Argentina v. Ghana), Provisional Measures, 2012
https://www.itlos.org/en/main/cases/list-of-cases/case-no-20/
6. Al Jazeera β Argentina's Milei threatens legal action over Falklands oil project (2026)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/29/argentinas-milei-threatens-legal-action-over-falklands-oil-project
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#Falklands #Argentina #Geopolitics
