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Abstract
Looking at Gibraltar today, its commercial port, tourism, finance centre and its very active political class, one could easily forget just how influential, if not determinative, British military interests are. Therefore, I would like to highlight just how much Gibraltar remains a military base, and how this has historically interfaced with civilian and commercial interests. So the question today is whether Gibraltar is a Monaco or a Rota, or an unusual combination of both. In times of peace, civilian and commercial interests have prevailed, but, for some years now Anglo-American policy has suggested that defence is coming to the forefront worldwide. In January 2024 the drums of war were banging louder not just in Ukraine and Israel but also in the Red Sea, the Baltic, and the South China Sea. It is remarkable that less than 10 years ago a Commander of British Forces Gibraltar told the Gibraltar Chronicle that when he was appointed, he did not know whether it was to switch the lights off on the Ministry of Defence in Gibraltar. How things have changed as the strategic position of Gibraltar as a forward mounting base with nuclear capability has come to the fore of United States/United Kingdom military doctrine.
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