After World War II, the British Empire confronted the law of diminishing returns with regard to their looting and pillaging of their colonial territories.
So, they pulled out, but divided those territories in a manner that was generally certain to provoke sectarian conflicts.
Some of these territories pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, and became thriving secular states — India and Singapore being prime examples.
My commentary last week on how the Ukraine conflict is likely to play out evoked a question from a reader : "How is it possible in ZAs media landscape that the best analysis commentary is from a private blog, and in media houses the only international news are Reuters ticker subscriptions"?
Here's a question where the answer might seem obvious, but is not: If you were going to buy a Tesla in Japan, what's the best way to do that?
If you answered, "I would import it from Shanghai," you would be correct.
If you get your news analysis from the likes of CNN, BBC, The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, you're probably not aware that the world's largest trade pact came into effect on New Year's Day 2022.
A terse announcement on Twitter two days ago from my country’s president:
His Excellency President @CyrilRamaphosa receives Letter of Credence from the Ambassador of the State of Israel, His Excellency Mr Eliav Belotsercovsky, on the occasion of the Credentials Ceremony at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guesthouse in Tshwane #BetterAfricaBetterWorld
Let's make one thing clear before I start on my tirade. I love the United States of America. The country embraced me, gave me an education second to none, and the wonderful friendships I made then endure to this day.
If I start going through a list of influential people I can think of that became great because the US gave them a base, I lose track. Ayn Rand, Bob Marley, Stokely Carmichael, Chinua Achebe, Joni Mitchell, Audrey Hepburn, Neil Young, John Lennon, Carlos Santana, Albert Einstein… The US is the only place that could have given us the likes of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.
1. It's the second most expensive spice in the world, hitting a high of $600 per kilogram in 2018 and currently trading at around $567/kg.
We are not seeing much of this in western media, but this is the most important story in the world right now. Here's why:
1. Riots broke out following removal of price controls on fuel which saw prices of petrol, diesel, and LNG double.
