Three members of the Washington-based Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom have written an article in which they argue that the United States should “encourage Spain to cease its insolent behavior toward the people of Gibraltar and the U.K.”

The article, which appears on the Heritage Foundation website, provides the historical background to the dispute and summarises the recent measures taken by Spain at the border and the threats of further restrictions announced by the Spanish Foreign Secretary.

The authors, Luke Coffey (Margaret Thatcher Fellow), Nile Gardiner (Director) and Ted R. Bromund, (Senior Research Fellow in Anglo–American Relations) who are all based at the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom in the US capital also explain that they believe Spain’s campaign against Gibraltar to be a mere “distraction” from Rajoy’s domestic troubles.

When it comes to suggested US action, the authors argue that although the Treaty of Utrecht is important, “it is ultimately secondary to the inherent right of the Gibraltarians to decide how they wish to be governed and to whom they owe their allegiance.”

They therefore say that the US should support the self-determination of Gibraltarians.

The Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom is a division of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies at The Heritage Foundation which is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. 

The Heritage Foundation’s stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense".

Full article can be accessed here: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/08/us-should-condemn-spain-s-bullying-tactics-over-gibraltar