Prisoners of Geography (68). Latin America. Argentina

Argentina has a better chance of becoming a developed country than Brazil. Its size and population are not enough to become a regional power, but the quality of the land is good enough to create a standard of living similar to that of European countries. That doesn't mean it has to be like that. But that geography does not hinder its development. 

In the 19th century it took control of the agricultural plains and trade routes of the Río de la Plata in wars with Paraguay and Brazil. And the most important place on the whole continent is the place where the river falls into the sea, which is its port of Buenos Aires. The port gave Argentina an economic and strategic advantage over any country that still existed. 

But Argentina could not take advantage of it properly. A hundred years ago it was one of the richest countries in the world. It was richer than France and Italy. But the society could not get out of the clutches of its economic inequality and feudal system. It has been in decline for the last forty years due to political instability and successive overthrows of the government, inconsistency in economic policy. 

Argentina can get out of its crises and it can be helped by a dead cow. 

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Dead Cow (Vaca Muerta) is an area with oil in the rocks and lots of oil. It can meet the country's energy needs for the next 150 years. It shares a western border with Chile. And there is a large shale formation. But there is a problem. Extracting oil and gas from here will require huge external investment. And Argentina is not attractive to foreign investors. A history of inconsistent economic policies and skepticism towards foreign investors means that attracting large investments to the country is not easy. 

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In addition, oil and gas lie further south in the ocean. And the islands it is close to are owned by Britain since 1833. And that's another problem. 

The British call them the Falkland Islands. While in Argentena they are called Las Malvinas. And if someone uses the Falklands word in Argentina, they may face trouble. In school, children learn that a map of Argentina is incomplete without an outline of its two largest islands. Achieving them has been Argentina's national goal for generations, and almost all of its neighbors are with Argentina. 

On April 1982, General Galtieri, the military ruler of Argentina, decided to attack here. It was successful until eight weeks later when a British task force arrived. He defeated the Argentine army and drove them back. This failure also led to the fall of Gaultieri's government. 

If this attack had happened in the 2010s, Britain would not have been in a position to repel them. At that time Britain had no aircraft carrier. But Britain regained this capability in 2020 when it added two new aircraft carriers to the military. 

However, it is unlikely that Argentina will start a war here again. 

One reason is that Argentina is now a democracy and knows that almost all Falkland Islanders want to stay with the UK. Another is that several hundred British troops are permanently stationed here, with advanced radar systems, missiles, aircraft and a nuclear submarine stationed here. 

The Argentine Air Force has very old aircraft and the British have ensured that this does not change. America and Britain have a special friendship. There is no question of buying from America. The deal to buy modern aircraft from Spain was not allowed by Britain through diplomacy. 

But it means Argentina's relationship will remain strained. Argentina has announced that any country or company that tries to extract oil from the Falklands will be expelled from Argentina. For this reason, many large companies do not fall in this direction, but British Petroleum is an exception. However, extracting it from the sea here is a big challenge. The combination of cold, wind and waves makes it the toughest place in the world. 

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Now that we have come to the cold south, look ahead to the frozen continent of Antarctica. Many countries would like to take control here, but the climate here, the Antarctic Treaty and the lack of local resources come in the way. At least in today's time. 

But this cannot be said about the North Pole of the world. Heading towards the North Pole, we reach what may be the greatest conflict point of the 21st century. This is the arctic region.