The Enduring Projection of Power Through Dispossession
FIRST INSTANCE: The Chagos Archipelago and the Cold War (1965) In 1965, the United Kingdom detached the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, from Mauritius and established the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) just prior to granting Mauritius independence. This move, explicitly designed to facilitate a US military base, involved the subsequent forced displacement of approximately 1,500
to 2,000 indigenous Chagossians (HMSO, 1965). The US Department of Defense deemed Diego Garcia 'the perfect power projection platform' for the Indian Ocean (DoD, 1971). REPETITIONS: Legal Challenges and Diplomatic Obstruction (2000s-Present) 2000s: Beginning in 2000, UK High Court rulings repeatedly affirmed the Chagossians' right of return, only for the UK government to use royal prerogative and
Orders in Council to overturn these judgments, effectively re-exiling the islanders (Chagos Islanders v. Attorney General, 2000; Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 2004). This demonstrated a consistent pattern of legal maneuvering to maintain strategic control. 2019: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion in February 2019, stating that the UK's detachment of the Chagos
Archipelago was unlawful and that the UK should end its administration of the territory. The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly endorsed this opinion in May 2019, calling for the UK to withdraw within six months (ICJ, 2019; UNGA Resolution 73/295). 2024: Negotiations between the UK and Mauritius regarding the future of the Chagos Archipelago have progressed towards a potential deal, which the