ABSTRACT
High on the agenda when Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979 was resolution of the long-running dispute over the independence of Rhodesia. Thatcher could afford to stand up to Argentina over the Falklands in 1982 because she had support from the United States. She was, however, in no position in 1984 to stand up to China over the future of the territory of Hong Kong. Technically, most of South Africa had been independent of Britain since 1910. By the time that Thatcher had become a major figure on the world stage in the 1980s, it was a nation increasingly ill at ease with itself. Although Thatcher had little success with Communists in Africa and the Far East, her influence was growing in Communist Eastern Europe. She showed both prescience and prejudice. Within the European Community, Thatcher's unique diplomatic style militated against the formation of any anti-German alliance.
