Yemen

Yemen is the home of the biblical 'Queen of Sheba' - the leader of a trading state that flourished for over a thousand years, including parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The idea of 'Africa' as a separate continent is very recent. The Suez Canal is a man-made separation. Europe, Asia and Africa are one land mass with very closely interwoven histories. In the Hebrew Bible, the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon with gifts of spices, gold and precious jewels. The Makonnen dynasty of Ethiopia claim descent from the child born out of that visit. There is no functional state and the area is ravished with war and blockades. A famine is underway affecting 17 million people. More than 50,000 children died from starvation in 2017. A painful reminder that despite our shared history, the importance of our lives is weighted by the random geography of our birth.

Queen of Sheba

Vanuatu

As the world globalised, those seeking to convert locals or make money looked homewards for legal protection. People wanted to do business or religion without being subject to local laws and customs. In Vanuatu, the mix of French and British interests brought petitions for the big powers to annexe the territories. In 1906, France and Britain agreed to administer the islands jointly. A Condominium is an area in which different sovereign powers agree to exercise their rights jointly, without dividing up into geographical zones. The difficulty comes in ensuring co-operation, when there isn't a 'higher power' to resolve disputes. Independence movements came in the 70s, and the Republic gained independence from Britain and France in 1980. It has a population of about 270,000 people.

Anglo-French Condominium

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country. It is bordered by five landlocked countries. The idea of Nation States wasn't built on what a Nation would need to thrive. The idea of a Nation State, is that a distinct cultural or ethnic group form a state that they self-govern. Some argue the State forms the Nation rather than the other way around, through standardisation. In 1789, only half of the 'French People' spoke some French and about 13% spoke the version in literature. When Italian unification started (1815 - 1871), even fewer 'Italian People' spoke Italian. Modern Uzbekistan was once inhabited by Iranian speaking nomads, and fell under Persian and Greek Empires before C7th Muslim conquests. Central Asia was then swallowed in the C13th Mongol invasions, and the area became dominated by mainly Turkic people. Later it was incorporated into the Russian Empire, until independence was declared in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. If Nation States are an attempt to define borders by a 'The People', they palpably fail history.

Russian Troops take Samarkand in 1868

United States of America

Continental Colours

Thirteen Star Flag

The Thirteen Colonies which declared independence from Britain in 1776 were on the east coast. A small slice of what is today the USA. The population of roughly 2.4 million people were predominantly from the British Isles. The British and French had just fought a war in the 1750s where the Colonists would have felt like pawns (like the C20th Cold War). It was the North American mirror of the Seven Year War. The French and American Revolutions that are founders of Nationalism followed. The French Revolution overthrew the monarchy (bankrupted by Wars). The American Revolution argued for "no taxation without representation" - rebelling against rule from afar. I struggle with how the enlightenment led away from Empires but towards race-based Nations. To empower 'The People', artificial barriers like flags, anthems, languages, borders, and national institutions need to be created. A lesson in unintended consequences, even of noble ideals.

Thirteen Colonies

United Arab Emirates

The southern coast of the Persian Gulf was known as the 'Pirate Coast' - although the ruler of Sharjah wrote a book in 1986 entitled 'The Myth of Arab Piracy in the Gulf'. Pearling was a major industry. Some would also make a living by harassing British flagged ships from the 17th to the 19th century. For 150 years, the local rulers had a treaty with Britain as the Trucial States. Britain was expected to protect their authority in exchange for exclusivity rights. The invention of cultured pearls wiped out the industry, but oil finds in Persia (1908) and Mesopotamia (1927) led to eventually successful exploration which changed the game. The first successful boreholes struck black gold in Abu Dhabi in 1950. The Suez Crisis of 1956 is arguably the last time Britain flexed its global authority, and it ended up with a bloody nose. In 1968, unable to afford being a global policeman, Britain decided to withdraw all troops east of Aden. This led to unity negotiations and in 1971, six emirates joined to form the single country of the United Arab Emirates. Each Emirate is governed by an absolute monarch, and one (traditionally the Emir of Abu Dhabi) is selected as President.

Burj Khalifa

World's Tallest Man Made Structure

Tuvalu

Tuvalu has a population of just over 10,000 people. It became the 189th member of the United Nations in September 2000. 4,676 people voted in its 1974 self-determination referendum which led to a separation from Kiribati. The formation of the United Nations after World War II resulted in a 'Special Committee on Decolonisation' being created in 1961. Resolution 1514 in 1960 had laid the groundwork - 'The subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and is an impediment to the promotion of world peace and co-operation.' 89 countries voted in favour, none against, and nine abstained - Australia, Belgium, Dominican Republic, France, Portugal, Spain, the Union of South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States. Kiribati (99% Micronesian) and Tuvalu (96% Polynesian) split along racial lines. South Africa became a (white-controlled) republic in 1961. The same self-determination concept was used to create Apartheid.

Pacific Culture Areas

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan was washed by several cultural waves. Indo-European languages show how our tongues are linked, even if our ears hide behind alternative words and accents. The area was once inhabited by Indo-Iranians. Written history starts with its annexation into the Achaemenid Empire of Cyrus the Great. In the 8th Century, Oghuz Tribes moved there, and those who converted to Islam rather than Christianity or Shamanism were known as Turkmen. Like the Romans who converted to, and (temporarily) took control of, Christianity (till the Germanic people stepped in...), westward-moving Turkmen later led the Ottoman Empire. The languages spoken in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan belong to the Oghuz family of the Turkic language group.

Turkic Language Family

Indo-European Language Family

Trinidad and Tobago

The twin islands of Trinidad and Tobago are a sovereign state just 11km off the coast of Venezuela. The southernmost in the string of Caribbean islands. When Slavery ended, plantation owners were in severe need of labour. Slavery was replaced with Indentured Servitude with forced work for a particular employer for a fixed period of time. In return for passage 'to the new world', workers would sign contracts with very low wages. 3.5 million Indians were transported to various European Colonies. Indentureship of East Indians in Trinidad & Tobago lasted from 1845 to 1917 and a third of the population (as many as from the slave trade) descend from this group.  Petroleum was discovered in 1857, but became significant only after a sugarcane/cocoa collapse in the 1920s. The rise of an oil economy led to increasing industrialisation.

Indentured East Indian Labourers

Tonga

The Lapita were seafarers who lived around 3,000 years ago, exploring islands hundreds of miles apart. Tonga is made up of 169 islands, with 36 of them inhabited. Tongan is a Polynesian language closely connected to that spoken in Hawaii (an 18-hour flight away). The first Europeans visited in 1616 with a brief trading visit from a Dutch vessel. Sovereignty was never given to a foreign power, but it did have 'protected state' status from the United Kingdom from 1900 till 1970. It was only united as a Kingdom in 1845, and (with the help of a missionary) declared a Constitutional Monarchy in 1875 adopting the western royal style. It is the only Pacific nation to maintain its Monarchical government.

Lapita Pottery

Togo, France and Germany

Even in France, French only became the 'national language' in the C19th. Through a combination of standardised, industrialised, education and conscious attempts to root out 'Patois' or non-standard, undereducated Rural class vs. the dominant prestige languages of the upper class and upwardly mobile. In Togo, the official language is also French although many other languages are spoken, despite being one of the smallest countries in Africa (with a population of less than 8 million). Little attention was paid to who was there when countries were 'designed'. The Gbe language family is a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching from Ghana to Nigeria. The coastal region was a big part of the European slave trade on the "The Slave Coast". At the Berlin Conference of 1884, Germany declared Togoland a German protectorate. After World War I, power was transferred to the French, and independence came in 1960.

Gbe Languages

Thailand

Ethiopia was the only African country never colonised by the Europeans. It is the reason so many flags in the world bear the Ethiopian colours once they gained independence. Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation which did the same. Modern Nations only became a real thing after French Revolution and when Napoleon decided to dissolve the Holy Roman Empire (in 1806) and crown himself, shifting power from the Church to 'The People'. Like the Muslim Ummah (a supra-national community), the Catholic (universal) Church aimed to include everyone. France and England aimed to rule, and 'civilize'. They continued their European rivalry in the attached colonial arms race of Nation building. Able Thai rulers were able to exploit those tensions, and Thailand became a buffer state between British and French interests. From the mid-C19th century Thailand began its own industrialization process, which included nation-building along western lines. As war industrialised, it was difficult/impossible not to. By the time of World War I, nations needed soldiers prepared to die in production line like trenches. In 1917, then known as Siam, Thailand joined its colonial neighbours as part of the Allies.

Territorial Losses

Tajikistan

Civil war has often followed independence from foreign conquerors. Tajikistan became an independent nation following the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union. Its Civil War lasted from 1992 to 1997. This was not because of ethnic diversity. The vast majority are Tajiks, an Iranian group of people speaking a variety of Persian. Like the Germanic Migration Period (375-568) and the Bantu Expansion (from 1,000 BCE reaching South Africa by maybe 300 AD), distinct 'Nations' of people are often connected by hints at the past in their word choices. Their primary language has Persian roots. The second language is mainly Russian. The religion is mainly Islam. Lingering reminders of the various powers that have come and gone. The majority of ethnic Russians left when the Soviet era ended. The Civil War was fought between regional groups with opposition parties seeing reduced Russian influence as an opportunity for their brand of ideology.

Tajik Girls celebrating Persian New Year

Syria

Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. A few others claiming this mantle are Beirut & Byblos (Lebanon), Jericho (Palestine), and Luxor (Egypt). The modern state of Syria is made up of several ancient Empires and Kingdoms. Damascus was the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, before it was moved to Baghdad at the start of the Islamic Golden Age.  Like the shift of the Islamic capital, Constantine moved the capital from Rome to modern Istanbul (Byzantium/Constantinople) in 330AD. Before the Islamic expansion to Syria, Greek and Aramaic had been the dominant languages of the area under the Byzantine era. Aramaic was the language Jesus spoke. It was also the area from where the Patron Saint of England, St. George, came. The modern state was carved out of the Ottoman Empire as a French Mandate after World War I. Mandate's were supposed to differ from colonialism with 'the governing country acting as a trustee until the inhabitants would be able to stand on their own'. Self-determination. Syria's 'self' is pretty complicated.

Umayyad Caliphate - 750 AD

Solomon Islands

The Berlin Conference of 1884 regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa. New Imperialism rose on the back of newly industrialised nations Germany and Japan. 'New' imperialism because the first wave between C15th and early C19th focused on the Americas, after 'losing' the Old World conflict to Muslim powers which barred the path east and into North Africa. The "Civilising Mission" religious justification combined with trade wars between European powers. Instead of just ports, the conference required "effective occupation". Germany, being a new power, insisted that no European state could have a hand-wavy 'claim' without strong and effective political control. 

This concept extended beyond Africa in the new attempt to "fill the gaps". Instead of the commercial venture before, it became a 'moon-landing' style pissing contest. In 1893, Britain defined its area of interest in the Solomon islands. It was declared a British Protectorate. A protectorate was a de-facto colony, but used a chosen pre-existing native state as an agent of indirect rule. Sometimes the Protected State, didn't actually agree to the protection, and sometimes the additional foreign muscle bolstered dubious local claims. The Solomon Islands gained independence in the post-World War II wave of self-determination. This was added to the increased cost of administering colonies becoming evident after the 1973 oil shocks. Again, a commercial decision, with a convenient justification. Independence came in 1978, with Queen Elizabeth II remaining the Constitutional Monarch.

Solomon Island Warriors - 1895

Singapore

When 'Greece' fell to Rome, it wasn't an Empire but a bunch of independent city-states who did things differently. The Greek peninsula first came under Roman rule after the fall of Corinth in 146 BC. Roman culture was heavily influenced by the Greeks. Western Rome fell to the Barbarian tribes of the North in 476. Like the Greeks, the Germanic people were part of independent tribes rather than an Empire. In the year 800, King Charlemagne (of the Franks - a collection of Germanic people) revived the Imperial idea and started the Holy Roman Empire. Barbarian culture was heavily influenced by the Romans. Singapore is one of the few modern City States. Ironically, so is the Vatican City. Singapore was a colonial trading post of the British East India Company, and later part of the British Raj. In 1963, it federated with other former British territories to form Malaysia. Ideological difference saw it become a separate sovereign nation in 1965. The country took commerce, finance, and transport by the scruff of the neck and today has the 3rd highest GDP per capita of any sovereign nation (not based on natural resources).

1825 - Singapore Free Port

Samoa

Unlike other islands which were colonised and the populations replaced, the Samoan people's ancestors reached their country about 3,500 years ago. Only a small minority are not indigenous. In most countries, that is the other way around. People tend to wander. Including Samoans! The island group, including American Samoa (still part of the US) were known as the "Navigator Islands" because of their seafaring skills. Although Europeans visited from 1722, contact was limited until 1830s when English missionaries and traders began arriving. Germany, the United States and Britain started backing military efforts to support their respective business interests. Backing different local groups, there was an eight-year Civil War (1886-1894). A proxy for war between colonial powers. In 1899, all three sent warships resulting in the Somoas being divided between Germany and the US. Britain backed off in exchange for Tonga. New Zealand took over after World War I, and independence came (for what was known as Western Samoa until 1997) in 1962.

Samoa v South Africa

(2007)

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Kitts is short for Saint Christopher. Saint Kitts and Nevis is an island country in the West Indies. As one of the first British/French colonies in the Caribbean, it is nicknamed the "Mother Colony". In the fourth century, summertime snow fell on one of the seven celebrated hills in Rome. The Spanish named the island for Nuestra Señora de las Nieves - new lady of the snow. White clouds surround the top of Nevis peak. The British/French settled and partitioned the islands in 1623 - expelling, enslaving or killing the local population. As Spanish power went into decline, these islands became the launching point for increased British and French power. It became the richest colony per capita of the British Caribbean because of the sugar trade. Independence from the United Kingdom came in 1983, and it is the newest sovereign state in the Americas.

Caribbean Politics