The Falklands crisis as a cross-government failure

Was the Falklands crisis mainly caused by Foreign Office and political complacency?

That is an oversimplification, but it captures much of a wider failure to connect diplomatic policy with credible naval deterrence.

The comic version exaggerates, but its broad picture is close to the historical problem. Foreign Office assumptions, Number 10, and the treatment of naval forces as useful for ceremony all shaped the policy failure. The real crisis contains more nuance than the Yes, Prime Minister comparison allows. Even so, the simplified account points toward a cross-government failure to connect diplomacy, defence policy, and credible naval presence.