ABSTRACT
The Falklands War holds great fascination for military and political analysts. Militarily, it had a bit of everything: air, naval, and ground operations in every conceivable combination; staggering logistical difficulties; decisive tactical judgments; and widely varying behavior of troops under extreme conditions. The war is just as compelling a subject for students and practitioners of diplomacy and law, providing them, too, with a little bit of everything: a major peacemaking effort was undertaken by the United States; both the United Nations and a regional organization became involved; and certain key principles of international conduct were tested. The Argentines had lost hope that they could obtain their central foreign policy goal through peaceful means. At times during the course of the American mediation effort it appeared to people that the Argentines might accept something less than a guarantee of sovereignty.
