Recording: The Falklands Campaign 1982 – Its Origins, War and Diplomacy

The discussion looks at: controversies about the UK’s ownership of the Falkland Islands prior to the war; the reasons for the Argentine invasion; the political and military decisions of the UK’s response to the invasion; the debate about the UK command structure for the campaign, and combat decisions and errors; and the perceptions of the Falkland Islanders before, during and after the campaign.

Professor Sir David Omand GCB was Principal Private Secretary to the Defence Secretary during the Falklands conflict. He was the first UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator, responsible to the Prime Minister for the professional health of the intelligence community, national counterterrorism strategy and ‘homeland security’. He served for seven years on the Joint Intelligence Committee. He was Permanent Secretary of the Home Office from 1997 to 2000, and before that Director of GCHQ (the UK signals intelligence agency). He is a visiting Professor in the Department of War Studies, King’s College, London, and a Distinguished Fellow at RUSI.

Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman KCMG is Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London. He was Professor of War Studies from 1982 to 2014 and Vice-Principal from 2003 to 2013. Elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1995, he was appointed Official Historian of the Falklands Campaign in 1997. He is the holder of the Chesney Gold Medal, RUSI’s highest award.

Sukey Cameron MBE was born in Stanley, East Falkland, and brought up on Port San Carlos farm. She began to work full time in the Falkland Islands Office in London as Executive Secretary in 1979. After the end of the war, the Falkland Islands Government decided to establish an official Falkland Islands Government Office (FIGO) in London. Sukey became Representative of the Falkland Islands Government in the United Kingdom in 1990, a post she filled for the following three decades.