2. The causes for wars in Latin
America during the
nineteenth century are
numerous and create a
vivid, plaid tapestry.
The Haitian Revolution was a
period of conflict in the
French colony of Saint-
Domingue, which
culminated in the
elimination of slavery there
and the founding of
the Haitian republic.
It lasted from 1791 to 1804.
The Haitian Revolution is
regarded as a defining
moment in the history of
Africans in the New World.
3. Although an independent
government was created in Haiti,
its society continued to be deeply
affected by the patterns
established under French colonial
rule.
The French established a system
of minority rule over the illiterate
poor by using violence and
threats.
Some had identified more with
the French colonists than the
slaves, and associated within their
own circles.
In addition, the nascent state's
future was practically
"mortgaged" to French banks in
the 1820s, as it was forced to
make massive reparations to
French slaveholders in order to
receive French recognition and
end the nation's political and
economic isolation.
4. Starting in the 1730s, French engineers
constructed complex irrigation
systems to
increase sugarcane production. By the
1740s Saint-Domingue, together
with Jamaica, had become the main
supplier of the world's sugar. Sugar
production depended on extensive
manual labor provided by enslaved
Africans in the harsh Saint-Domingue
colonial plantation economy.
The white planters who derived their
wealth from the sale of sugar knew
they were outnumbered by slaves by a
factor of more than ten; they lived in
fear of slave rebellion. White masters
extensively used the threat of physical
violence to maintain control and limit
this possibility for slave rebellion.
5. In 1789 Saint-Domingue, producer
of 60 percent of the world's coffee
and 40 percent of the world's
sugar imported by France and
Britain, was the most profitable
colony the French owned.
It was the wealthiest and most
flourishing of the slave colonies in
the Caribbean.
The lowest class of society was
enslaved blacks, who
outnumbered whites and free
people of color by ten to one.
The slave population on the island
totaled almost half of the one
million slaves in the Caribbean by
1789. They were mostly African-
born.
6. The author of this book offers a
study of the 21st century’s
emerging geopolitical
marketplace dominated by
three first world superpowers,
the U.S., Europe and China.
Each competes to lead the
new century, pursuing that
goal in the third world: select
eastern European countries,
east and central Asia, the
Middle East Latin America, and
North Africa.
Each can be appealing; none
has obvious advantages.
7. Conventional wisdom tells us
that a new star will rise in the
East, and over the past decade
all eyes have been looking
towards China or India to
witness the emergence of the
21st century’s new superpower.
But if the three key elements for
a strong and powerful economy
are democracy, economic
growth and low inflation then
neither of those would-be giants
makes the grade. Inflation in
India is at a 13-year high; as for
democracy in China… well
there isn’t any. Remarkable as
has been their recent economic
growth the institutional frailty of
both nations raises questions
about long-term sustainability.
8. But quietly and less flashily
the economies of South
America have also been
transforming themselves,
only in their case
unburdened by the dead
weight of caste politics or
communism.
And it’s not just the growing
might of Brazil that catches
the eye: a new vitality is
evident across the continent
– in Peru, for example,
whose 9.8 percent growth
rate last year was one of the
world’s fastest. So perhaps
we should all do an about-
turn
9. Today there is nothing “governmental”
about diplomacy. The continued
conflicts, violence, hunger, disease and
poverty around the globe have become
too overwhelming for governments, even
as a collective, to handle. When it comes
to foreign affairs, “all hands on deck” is
the order of the day. Khanna calls this
“Mega Diplomacy.”
Fortunately his other examples are
persuasive. Chapter Nine “The Case
Against Poverty,” is his best. Shelving feel-
good development hyperbole, Khanna
tells us, point blank, “pretending the
world should be equal – or even can be
equal – harms development.” He
proposes, “rather than even talk about
poverty, we should focus on need.
Poverty is amorphous and sounds
incurable, but needs are specific: food,
water, shelter, medical care and
education.”
10. The presidential palaces of Latin
America are famous for their imposing
Spanish colonial grandeur. Not long
ago these marble edifices on grand
plazas were inhabited mostly by
military strongmen. That these leaders
were elites of European descent went
virtually without question.
11. Today, Chile’s presidential palace, La
Moneda, is the home of a single
mother and torture survivor. In Buenos
Aires’ famous Casa Rosada lives a
man who is perhaps the biggest thorn
in the side of the International
Monetary Fund
