Colonialism is defined as “control by one power over a dependent area or people.” It occurs when one nation subjugates another, conquering its population and exploiting it, often while forcing its own language and cultural values upon its people. By 1914, a large majority of the world's nations had been colonized by Europeans at some point.

Japan, Korea, and Thailand are the only other nations never to have been colonized by Europeans.

A large and impressive network of sea routes that linked the East and West stretching from the west coast of Japan, through the Islands of Indonesia, around the Indian subcontinent to the Iranian Plateau, the Arabian Peninsula and eventually Europe, facilitated the largescale trade of spices over a distance of more than 15,000 kilometres. These ‘spice routes’ made up just one maritime part of the expansive trade networks of the Silk Roads.

From as early as 2000 BC, spices such as cinnamon from Sri Lanka and cassia from China were exported along the Silk Roads as far west as the Arabian Peninsula and the Iranian Plateau. As was often the case with the many other goods traded along the Silk Roads, the ports where spice traders stopped along their journeys, acted as melting pots for a broad exchange of ideas and information. With every ship that set sail with a cargo of valuables on board, knowledge was carried over the seas to be exchanged at the next port of call.

The word “spice” derives from the Latin species, or ‘special wares’, and refers to an item of special value, as opposed to ordinary articles of trade. Spices were highly valued because, as well as being used in cooking, many had ritual, religious or medical uses. They were of high value because of their relative geographical scarcity. Spices could only be grown in the tropical East, in the South of China, Indonesia as well as in Southern India and Sri Lanka. In particular, they grew in the Moluccas a chain of mountainous islands in the Pacific Ocean between Sulawesi and New Guinea,. Some spices, such as cloves and nutmeg, grew nowhere else in the world.

Opium Wars, two armed conflicts in China in the mid-19th century between the forces of Western countries and of the Qing dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 to 1911/12. The first Opium War (1839–42) was fought between China and Britain, and the second Opium War (1856–60), also known as the Arrow War or the Anglo-French War in China, was fought by Britainand France against China. In each case the foreign powers were victorious and gained commercial privileges and legal and territorial concessions in China. The conflicts marked the start of the era of unequal treaties and other inroads on Qing sovereignty that helped weaken and ultimately topple the dynasty in favour of republican China in the early 20th century. Contributing to the start of the Opium Wars was the failed British trade mission of 1792-93 known as the Macartney Embassy.​​​​​​​

He said that we would weaken Russia in order to prevent them from waging this type of war again. In fact, we've made the Russian military stronger, it's larger than it was before, it produces far more weapons, the industrial base is ramped up. Plus it's now battle-tested and battle-hardened, especially against Western weapons, so it's a much more formidable military Biden has created on the part of the Russians than when we started.

Meanwhile, it's the United States that has seen its stockpiles depleted and hollowed out.

Then you look at the economic claims that Biden made, he said that sanctions would crush the Russian economy. In fact, the Russian economy is growing faster than any of the G-7 economies. It's really booming and it's our European allies' economies that have been crushed by the sanctions.

So, you know all this policy that he's pursued has really boomeranged and again come true in reverse.