Britain and the Dictatorships of Argentina and Chile, 1973-82

Produktbeschreibung

This book explores the links between the British government and the dictatorships of Argentina and Chile, 1973-82, using newly-opened British archives. It gives the most complete picture to date of British arms sales, military visits and diplomatic links with the Argentine and Chilean military regimes before the Falklands war. It also provides new evidence that Britain had strategic and economic interests in the Falkland Islands and was keen to exploit the oil around the Islands. It looks at the impact of private corporations and social movements, such as the Chile Solidarity Campaign and human rights groups, on foreign policy. By analyzing the social background of British diplomats and tracing the informal social networks between government officials and the private sector, it considers the pro-business biases of state officials. It describes how the Foreign Office tried to dissuade the Labour governments of 1974-79 from imposing sanctions on the Pinochet regime in Chile and discusses whether un-elected officials place constraints on politicians aiming to pursue an ¿ethical¿ foreign policy. 

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction: Making Friends with the Junta.- 2. Chile: 1973 to 1982.- 3. Welcoming Pinochet's Coup (1973 to 1974).- 4. Ethical Foreign Policy? Labour versus the Foreign Office (1974 to 1979).- 5. Tea with a Dictator: Mrs Thatcher and the General (1979 to 1982).- 6. Chile: Conclusion.- 7. Argentina: From 1976 until the Invasion of the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982.- 8. Business as Usual: Arming the Junta (1976 to 1979).- 9. Oil, the Islands and the Falklands Lobby (1976 to 1979).- 10. Befriending 'Common or Garden' Dictators (1979 to 2 April 1982).- 11. Antarctica, Oil and Leaseback: Britain's Strategic Interests in the Falklands (1979 2 April 1982).- 12. Conclusion. 

Kritik

"Grace Livingstone's book should be read by everyone who takes an interest in foreign policy and international affairs. It is a gem which demonstrates not only the need for changes in the way that foreign policy is formulated but also for a more open and democratic system of recruiting Foreign Office and diplomatic personnel ..." (Stan Newens, Spokesman, Issue 141, 2019)

"The work is, I believe, unique in undertaking an in-depth examination of the role of the state during this important period for international relations, because no-one to date has undertaken such a holistic and intelligently perceptive approach to examining government policy, bringing in issues of class, economics, the role played by solidarity pressure groups and trade unions and structural factors. ... There is so much of value in this book. ... A vital contribution to our historical understanding of how the state works." (Morning Star, morningstaronline.co.uk, October, 2018)

 

Autoreninfo

Grace Livingstone is an Affiliated Lecturer at the Centre of Latin American Studies, University of Cambridge, UK, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London, UK. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. She is also a journalist and has reported for the BBC World Service, the Guardian, the Observer and the Independent. She is the author of Inside Colombia: Drugs, Democracy and War and America's Backyard: the United States and Latin America from the Monroe Doctrine to the War on Terror.