The Falklands and the War of Reagans Ear

Abstract

During the Cold War, the UK rebalanced its defense posture emphasizing a continental commitment to NATO over its former maritime strategy. Successive defense reviews whittled away the reach and capacity of the Royal Navy, and by 1982 the poverty of options available led it to employ a tripwire strategy of deterrence in the South Atlantic that, instead, precipitated an invasion of the Falkland Islands. Nevertheless, Argentina's actions caught the UK by surprise and threatened Parliaments confidence in the sitting government; Admiral Henry Leach's warning to Prime Minister (PM) Margaret Thatcher that in another few months we might be living in another country, has gained mythical status in the retelling of the crisis.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2013
Accession Number
AD1023221

Entities

People

  • Graem Corfield

Organizations

  • Air Command and Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Air Power
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Deterrence
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • Marine Transportation
  • Military Aircraft
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Strategic Security Studies