Prolonged territorial disputes and their irresolubility: an approach to the cases of Malvinas and Gibraltar

• Main Author: Altieri, Mariana Alejandra
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad de Chile. Instituto de Estudios Internacionales 2021
• Subjects: Territorial Dispute; Malvinas; Gibraltar; Irresolubility; Sovereignty; Disputas Territoriales; Irresolubilidad; Soberanía; South Sandwich Islands
• Online Access: https://revistas.uchile.cl/index.php/REI/article/view/58479

This article aims to analyze the sovereignty conflicts between the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over the Malvinas, Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime spaces, and between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over the Rock of Gibraltar, as cases of prolonged territorial disputes that became unsolvable over time. It is considered that it is plausible to characterize the sovereignty disputes in both cases as prolonged territorial disputes insofar as it is possible to trace their origin beyond the 20th century, reaching up to the first decades of the 21st century with no apparent possibility of resolution. In this sense, the postulates of an ongoing research are presented that tests whether the cases of Gibraltar and Malvinas can be considered significant as part of a trend towards the irresolvability of long-standing territorial conflicts that have led to a state of stagnation in the XXI century, due to the impossibility of advancing in the negotiations regarding sovereignty. Este artículo se propone analizar los conflictos de soberanía entre la República Argentina y el Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte sobre las islas Malvinas, Georgias y Sandwich del Sur y los espacios marítimos circundantes, y entre el Reino de España y el Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte por el peñón de Gibraltar, como casos de disputas territoriales prolongadas, que se han vuelto irresolubles a lo largo del tiempo. Se considera que es plausible caracterizar las disputas de soberanía de ambos casos como disputas territoriales prolongadas en tanto es posible rastrear su origen más allá del siglo XX, llegando hasta las primeras décadas del siglo XXI sin posibilidades de resolución aparente. En este sentido, se presentan los postulados de una investigación en curso que testea si los casos de Gibraltar y Malvinas pueden considerarse significativos como parte de una tendencia a la irresolubilidad ...