Blerrie Complicated

PK and “The Power of One” created a vivid picture of overcoming struggle, and of Oxford and the Rhodes Scholarship, for me. Cecil John Rhodes casts a shadow over South Africa with a bloody complicated legacy (or blerrie complicated, as my Grandfather would say to avoid swearing). Which includes an Oxford-like university in Grahamstown called Rhodes, surrounded by places like King William’s Town, Queenstown (where my Mom was from, with family on both sides of the Anglo-Boer war), Port Elizabeth and East London, in the area where the 1820 Settlers arrived after the Napoleonic Wars. Smack in the middle of a 100-year conflict between the Xhosa Kingdom and earlier European settlers. Rhodes’ statue also used to preside over the Rugby fields, looking with South England ambition towards the mountains, outside my leafy residence at the University of Cape Town. I applied for the Rhodes Scholarship, but didn’t get an interview. I still ended up in Oxfordshire on a different path. Living just outside the city in a small medieval market town called Burford. A Buhr is an old English fortification. A ford is a river. Crossing rivers. Crossing continents. Crossing cultures. Unpacking blerrie complication.

Statue Removed, Shadow Remains

Always Connected

Different waves of European Colonization rose from the failure of the Crusades (and the expansion of the Ottoman Empire), and the successful Reconquista (end of eight-century long Islamic rule). Cut off from the Silk Roads and Indian Ocean Trade, the religious zeal of church-sponsored missions, and the promise of wealth spurred the commercial Christian adventure seekers. The same modern mixture of “higher purpose” and “a way to pay for it”. The Old World had deep and wide connections, but restricted movement for control seekers. The first wave from 1402 (Canary Islands) to the British annexation of Kandy in 1815 focused on Trade Posts and the New World. The American Revolution, collapse of the Spanish Empire, and defeat of Napoleonic France changed the game. The Great Powers of “New Imperialism” had the fire power of the Industrial Revolution, Trade, and “Civilising Missions”. Each believing in their better version. In 1885 around a table in Berlin, “effective occupation” made these powers insist on direct rule of indigenous people to recognise claims. Then they started punching themselves in the face in two world wars, which loosened their grip. We have always been connected. It is just who is in charge and the stories they tell that change.

Afro-Eurasian Land Mass

Sea and Hill

Trev:

I grew up in Apartheid South Africa as it was gasping for its last breaths, and as the new South Africa was filling its lungs for the first times with a new cry. The road from Durban to Pietermaritzburg winds through Kwa-Zulu Natal with what were the white suburbs on either side, and the separated suburbs a little further back. One of my defining experiences was being taken to Umlazi as a 17-year-old. A place of almost half a million people, hidden behind a hill I never ventured beyond. There, but not. Gradually my high-school class filled with people from outside my bubble. I finished school when South Africa was just about to turn 4-years-old. That was my first experience of Global Apartheid. Seeing that the sea is just a big hill.

Simon:
It must have been weird living in such a backward society. I grew up in England, which is a proudly liberal. Britain has an awkward history too, but we are able to have a good laugh about it. It feels good to be proud of my country. It must be horrible to not be proud of your country. We have been on the right side of history in the end. You need to let go of your history in the same way. You shouldn't let Apartheid define you. It wasn't your fault, in the same way as England's history isn't my fault. I can be proud of the positives now, and move forward in a society that is equal.

Trev:
That doesn't sit well with me. I am proud of South Africa, but not in a Nationalistic way. When we first got the new South Africa flag, I was all-in for the story of Nation Building. I have lots of pictures of myself with a "Y-Front on my face" as the Barmy Army would put it. I was also one of the loudest singing the love child of Nkosi-Sikeleli iAfrika and Die Stem. When I got to the UK for the first time (a gap between school and uni), I was actually pretty annoying in my "South Africa is so amazing"ness. The problem is, it feels very much like the feeling I had growing up if you just focus on the positives. Life in a police state is backward, but all you know.

Marco:
I don't know. That's all too much like lecturing to me. Life is too short. I have enough problems of my own to focus on. What exactly is the point of carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders? A Liberal Society lets everyone just crack on with what is important to them. There is nothing holding anyone back. It is all about getting the right mindset. If you are constantly looking for excuses, you will find them. No one owes you anything. If you want something work for it. That applies to everyone else too, so I don't see why I (or you) need to feel any responsibility for sorting other people's issues out.

Trev:
I do think mindset is important. Except our mindsets aren't our own. We are part of a community, and we don't just move as individuals. It isn't as simple as snapping out of it. I don't think we necessarily recognise just how valuable being part of a set up that lets you focus on your own problems is. I love the UK. It is an awesome place, but I don't think there is sufficient reflection on issues like Colonialism and Imperialism. I don't think there is sufficient discussion about how we empower people to have similar opportunities to take advantage of the progress the world has seen. Even within the UK, I don't think it is as meritocratic as those who have succeeded believe. It is easy to say we get what we deserve, when we have succeeded.

Andrew:
Would you like some cheese with your whine? Colonialism and Imperialism happened a long time ago. Anyway, I wasn't part of all that. My parents and their parents also struggled. England was colonised by the Vikings, the French, and various European Monarchs had their turn. William of Orange was Dutch, and the latest lot are German and Greek. Russia was colonised by the Mongols. The Slavs, where we get the word Slave, were as white as Prince George's bottom. Look at Singapore and Rwanda... if you stop making excuses and start taking responsibility, your situation changes. Whine just gives you a hangover. At what point do we get to move on?

Trev:
I do think there is a balance. Yes, responsibility is important but some of the obstacles are structural. It is very hard to see why it is hard to break out of those restraints when you aren't under them. Particularly us as white, English-Speaking, males, who went to decent schools, and were part of strong communities. The world is largely set up for us. Even if we stumble, and go rogue for a while. We'll have buddies and family to help us up again. It can't all just be about sorting ourselves out. There must be some sort of shared responsibility.

Arthur:
There is shared responsibility. It's called tax. It's called the Welfare State. At some point people need to wipe their own bottoms. I am so tired of being told I can't have an opinion on anything because of my genitalia and lack of tan. I am also tired of being told I don't care, or am evil, because I just want to get a job I am good at, build a life I want to live, do things I enjoy, and pay a truck ton of tax along the way to a state that can help others who don't have the advantages I do. What more can you expect from me?

Trev:
Except taxes are National. It is the Umlazi problem I started with. The world is Global now. In the same way as I grew up where the "Whites Only Areas" were sustained by Black Labour. Building borders and sinking boats is just a way of creating open-air prisons. The UK is a country of migrants. The US is a country of migrants. The EU has a long history of migration. Instanbul, in Turkey, was the capital of the Roman Empire. Alexandria in Egypt, one of the centres of learning. How can we just focus on Nation States? Surely there is a better form of community.

Max:
Because Nation States are the most effective form of Government we have come up with. Because not participating in  "Civilising Missions" is the lesson learned from failed Colonialism and Imperialism. Because Free Trade is the best way to let other countries sort themselves out in their own way, in their own time. We haven't exactly had a sterling history of military interventions in imposing ourselves on others. Borders will gradually become more invisible as and when it is safe. You are living in la-la-land if you think it is fine to thrust "progress", whatever that is, on people. Or to expect people to put at risk all they have built up, to let whoever wants to come, in.

[Simon, Marco, Andrew, Arthur, and Max are fictional]

Beijing

The borders of countries are tidal. What divides and rules us depends on the whims of the times, and the songs we happen to be singing. Cities tend to be renamed, swell, and shrink... but they don't move. The people do. Beijing was conquered in 1215 by the Mongol Empire. By 1240, the turn had come for Kievan Rus, and they were readying to destroy Vienna when the Khan died in 1241. They still returned to flatten Baghdad in 1258, at the time the world's centre of learning. Beijing was rebuilt between 1264 and 1293. It was called Bei (Northern) Jing (Capital) in 1403, with the Forbidden City constructed as the Imperial Residence. Beijing has remained the political centre of China for most of the last eight centuries. It now hosts the most Fortune 500 companies, and the world's four largest financial institutions. Very much connected to the rest of the world, as it has been for thousands of years.

Beijing

Racist Dog

Most of us didn't learn our Mother Tongue academically. We didn't learn the rules. Instead we waded through years of confusion as repetition, imitation, and emotional connection gradually built up a deep web of triggers. It isn't the conscious rules that let us know what to say, or how to understand something. We know. In our bones. We carry on learning, but it takes years and years to unlearn some of the behaviours we got from those years before we can speak. From the years before we learnt to think for ourselves.

In South Africa, there is sometimes an issue with 'Racist Dogs'. Owned by people who genuinely believe they are open-minded and part of the post Apartheid world. Yet no one has told the dog. All the dog sees is that people who aren't white get treated differently.

South African Police Dogs

One of the tools of Apartheid was 'Die Swart Gevaar'. My surname is Black and so that has regularly been given to me as a nickname. It means 'The Black Danger/Threat'. I preferred 'Die Swart Donkey' because I am stubborn, ignorant, and noisy.

'Die Swart Gevaar' was a propaganda tool to keep people afraid of ending Apartheid. To keep the dogs racist. The dogs didn't meet individuals who were friendly (but not servants) from other races. Neither did the people. We were kept separate. Prejudice is just short-hand for the category you put things into that you haven't spent the time learning about. Dogs learnt that Black people they didn't know were dangerous.

Nowadays, I often see 'Die Swart Gevaar' applied to talk of the spread of Islam, or the rise of China, or any other number of categories we have very little understanding of. Places where people all look the same. They all look the same because the dogs inside us haven't learnt to tell the differences.

Islam is an Abrahamic religion. The values are Judeo-Christian. The history of warfare is the Abrahamic history because the people have shared a continental landmass for millennia. Until the Mongol invasions overthrew Baghdad, a 500-year Islamic Golden Age saw the coming together of scholars in 'The House of Wisdom'. Arabic became the language that pulled together the learnings of the entire Old World, stretching from Beijing to Portugal to Southern Africa. We didn't learn about Baghdad at school. We learnt about a whitewashed Rome.

No one told the dogs.

House of Wisdom

Prejudice is no more something you can unwind through a decision, than learning a language. You can even be trying very hard. You can decide you don't want to be sexist, or homophobic, or racist and try very hard 'learning the grammar'. That isn't how you learn a language. You learn a language through friendships and falling in love. You learn a language through developing a web of emotional connection.

I grew up in what I thought was a more liberal part of Apartheid South Africa. I still believe it was more liberal. Yet the prejudice was very much alive. A number of people have come out as homosexual since we grew up that (understandably) hid that the entire time. Boys and Girls were divided into separate high schools, but even at junior primary and senior primary level, there were separate playgrounds. People in senior positions at work were men. Moms were in charge at home. Hours and hours of deep soaked differences where Boys and Girls were in different categories to be treated differently.

I believe the intent of racist dogs is wholly honourable. The racism they show is actually love for their owners. They are being protective. It is still not acceptable. They will not change through one loving discussion. Gently they need to be shown that the world is not as they were taught it was. Fears need to be unwound. Anger needs to be unwound. Pain needs to be unwound.

South Africa is going through this process. The United Kingdom is going through this process. Colonialism, Imperialism, Racism, Sexism, and various other prejudices are dying. I am a Soutie who lives straddled over both. Trying to see the good intent in people, while being firm that that is not enough. Realising that I need to do the work on myself to unwind the prejudices that I have despite believing I am a pretty decent chap. Giving others that same benefit of doubt.

Good intent is a start. It is not enough. Participating in the process is. Loving each other is.

Bad Ideas Die

The Congress of Berlin was held in 1878. It was there that modern Colonialism was born. The New World had gone after independence, and so the European Powers needed to expand their influence in the Old World. They drew up borders cutting up Africa. 

As part of this policy, Britain wanted to replicate the Federal model of Canada where it had influence in Africa. Cecil John Rhodes wanted a British territory that extended from the Cape to Cairo. That is about 7,250km. About the same as London to Mumbai. At the time, South Africa was not a country. Britain fought a series of Anglo-somebody wars to make it such. Local resistance was fierce. A policy of burning farms to destroy supply lines, and Concentration Camps for the women and children (Scorched Earth) gave victory at the cost of entrenched hatred from the Boers. The Zulu armies also inflicted substantial defeats first time around, most famously at Isandlwana, before the British used internal differences to support rivals to power. Conquered, South Africa became a Union in 1910.

Isandlwana

Like the American South, there was a lot of appeasement to be done after the wars. Union Building meant that the losers had to be allowed to feel proud again. This was all at the time of the rise of resentment-driven Nationalism. Dutch was the preferred language of the Boer elite before the World War I to World War II years. World War I killed Empires. World War II killed Colonialism. The post-World War II years saw the rise of Nations built on anger. Built on a desire to be proud. No one won the second World War. It started when Stalin and Hitler invaded Poland. Stalin never left. The Cold War that followed got mixed up with De-colonisation and the rise of Nationalism. It mixed competing economic models with rising Identity Politics.

The Berlin Wall fell when I was 9 years old. It was a different border, but equally as divisive. It was the life-blood of the Apartheid Government which was supported as a buffer against Communism. I was 14 when South Africa transitioned from the Apartheid Government. 1994.

South Africa is dealing with multiple centuries-old wounds. History has been written and rewritten to suit whatever unifying or dividing story was being peddled at the time. Not much is commonly known about the 2,000 year expansion of Bantu people. Not much is known about the 1,000 years of Islamic trade, cultural exchange, and religious expansion. Not much is known about the History of people who lived prior to printing press. Or who owned the printing press, and what message they wanted to spread. Not much is known.

South Africa's wounds are not only local. They are mixed with the same blades that have cut up the rest of the world in different ways. Some countries are dominated by ex-Slave populations. South Africa was the boundary of people who pushed away from Slavery. That maintained independence right up until the late 19th century. Some countries are predominantly the descendants of Slave Owners. In some countries, the population mix changed because of the arrival of Indentured Labourers from India. See the Caribbean. See Durban. Even that dynamic of the difference between Indentured Labourers and Slaves causes tension. The rights of Indigenous peoples versus the rights of people who came, not as Colonisers, but by force.

The Cape Colony shared a lot of history with Indonesia and Malaysia. The Cape still shares flavours with South America, where there was a long history of mixing of locals and those who came by sea. Creole languages hundreds of years in the making with the tastes of many ports. Before the French Revolution and the Enlightenment invented the idea of 'The People'. The positive being Democracy. The negative being the need to separate people into false groups based on made up stories like race, religion, and language. Before the American Revolution cut ties from distant Monarchies. Then both the French and the Americans proceeded on 'Civilising Missions'.

I am a Soutie. I have one foot in the United Kingdom, and one foot in South Africa. My bits hang in the sea. Social Media means I am still connected daily to the very raw conversations about unravelling the Cold War, Imperialism, Colonialism, Apartheid, Racism, Privilege and various other obstacles to people getting along. At the same time, I now live in a divided Britain that spends most of its time calling the other side names, and not much time listening. A wealthy Britain that is still not happy. A Britain that spends a lot of time navel gazing, and not much time reflecting on this complicated past of which it was very much a part.

As I look on this long history of pain, I am actually incredibly positive. Our challenges today look insurmountable. Unless you step back. Unless you see the things in our recent history that we have conquered. Concentration Camps. Scorched Earth. Empires. Colonies. Slavery. Indentured Labour. Scientific Racism. Wars of Religion. The world is less racist, sexist, homophobic, and generally intolerant than it has ever been. Bad Ideas may seem to spread faster, but we are getting better and better at killing them. If we identify people not by the bad ideas, but by our shared ability to improve. Our shared resilience.

Bad ideas die. That is worth celebrating.

1994 South African Elections

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

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

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

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 Vincent

The 'Black Caribs' were a mix of native Carib people and West African slaves who escaped from Spanish shipwrecks and other slave islands. The Caribs aggressively managed to hold off European settlement of Saint Vincent until 1719. Some of the refugees were enslaved by the Caribs themselves, some became part of the community, some set up their own community. The First Carib War (1769-1773) saw initial success by the Black Caribs supported by the French. The British launch a full-scale attempt to subjugate the island, but it eventually resulted in a stalemate. The Second Carib War (1795-1797) again pitted the British against a coalition of runaway slaves, Black Caribs, and French Revolutionary advisers (The French had briefly taken control during the American Revolutionary Wars). Again initial success was met with a major intervention. The defeated natives were deported to the island of Roatán (65 kilometres off the coast of modern-day Honduras). 

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia was known as "Helen of the West Indies" because it swapped hands between French and British control so many times. The French first signed a treaty with the native people in 1660, and the British took decisive control in 1814 during the Napoleonic Wars. In between that control switched so each country ruled seven times. The majority of the population are the descendants of slaves. Saint Lucia also has a small minority with ancestry from India. Although misnamed the West Indies because of Columbus' ignorance, connection with actual India did occur when Britain started to bring indentured labourers in 1859. With slavery abolished, an indenture was the alternative way of getting the work done (by someone else). Indenture had also been used during 'The War of the Three Kingdoms' (1639-1651) as something to do with captured prisoners from Ireland and Scotland. The Thirteen Colonies in British America also used indenture for about half the almost 500,000 Europeans arriving there before 1775. Indenture was 'slavery with an end date'.

Gros Islet and Rodney Bay

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

Qatar

Qatar has a population of 2.6 million of which 313,000 are citizens, and the rest are expatriates. An Expatriate is someone temporarily or permanently living outside of their native country. I am not sure what the difference is from an Immigrant, other than perhaps intent. Is the relationship of an Expat purely commercial? With 90% of the population Expats, Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the world at about $125,000 per person. Although a small country by population and size, it has the world's third-largest reserves of natural-gas. Qatar took part in the Arab Revolt that helped defeat the Ottoman Empire in World War I. The United Kingdom then gave recognition to the hereditary title of Sheikh Abdullah as leader of a 'Trucial State'. The area had previously been known as the Pirate Coast. The British controlled foreign policy, defence, and arbitration. Independence came in 1971. Qatar did not join the also newly formed federation of the United Arab Emirates.

Doha