If we consider our history without the untidy and distorting packaging of vested interest, it may have some interesting nuggets for how we understand the economic shifts and opportunities arising from the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Jan van Riebeeck, so the story goes, arrived at Africa’s southern tip with a mandate to set up a refreshment station for commodities traders on the sea voyage between the Netherlands and Asia. At the time, the cut-throat business of tea and spices was dominated by the Portuguese and the British, and the Dutch were determined to get in on the action. ..