Argentina upped the ante in its long dispute over the Falklands.  See link.  It does not help that the disputed islands may have oil and natural gas deposits.   This is makes Argentinian angst on the subject even more acute, and probably explains why Argentina is trying to make it harder to sustain an oil exploration venture on the Islands.

Geographic proximity would appear to argue for Argentinian control of the Falklands.  But since the islands were uninhabited when Europeans landed, the sovereignty claims are fairly complex.  It does not help Argentina’s case that the islanders themselves vocally want to be a part of the United Kingdom.  With no native populations displaced by the colonization there are few moral arguments against respecting their wishes.

This is very similar to the periodic spats between the UK and Spain over Gibraltar.  Ever since the British conquest was ratified by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, Spain has tried repeatedly to get it back (including a 4 year siege during the American Revolution).  With two referendums (the last in 2002) having overwhelmingly voted for British sovereignty Spain has periodically responded with petulant economic blockades and harassing border restrictions.  Unlike the Falklands the capture of Gibraltar was accompanied by the departure of the native Spanish inhabitants.  Whether that has any moral bearing on the dispute 300 years later depends on your point of view.

Ironically Spain is engaged in a similar dispute with Morocco over Spanish enclaves on the North African coast.  Spain rejects any equivalency because these were Spanish possessions before the current state of Morocco existed.  See link.  Morocco obviously disagrees.

The age of decolonization has reduced the number of far flung outposts (e.g. Hong Kong, Macau and the Panama Canal Zone), but the remaining ones can still cause tempers to fray, even if war is unlikely in many such disputes.

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