World roundup: March 20 2024

Stories from Sudan, Ukraine, Honduras, and elsewhere

Nowruz Mobarak to those who are celebrating!

PROGRAMMING NOTE: As I mentioned in Sunday’s newsletter, tomorrow’s roundup will be our last for a bit. I need to recharge and take care of some family things. We’ll return to our regular schedule on April 2.

TODAY IN HISTORY

March 20, 1602: The States General of the Netherlands amalgamates several trading companies to form the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Modeled on the East India Company formed by the English monarchy two years earlier, the Dutch firm was intended to reduce the risk of overseas trade by controlling the supply of imported goods and thus minimizing price volatility. Political upheaval and financial struggles caused the Dutch government to allow its charter to lapse in 1799. Because of its structure the VOC is sometimes referred to as the world’s first “multinational corporation.” It’s also remembered as excessively brutal and exploitative even within the European colonial context.

March 20, 1815: Having escaped exile on the island of Elba, Napoleon makes his triumphant return to Paris as emperor, beginning the “100 days” epilogue to his reign. He would abdicate again on June 22, after losing the Battle of Waterloo and realizing on his return to Paris that there was little public appetite to resist the coalition forces that were marching on the city.

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed back to the Middle East on Wednesday to perform more of the high-level diplomacy that has so far achieved next to nothing in terms of the Biden administration’s stated aims with respect to Gaza. He’s once again looking to advance ceasefire talks—Blinken’s record on this particular issue speaks for itself, and not in a good way—and his itinerary reflects that. Blinken began his trip in Saudi Arabia, in keeping with the Biden administration’s desperately-held belief that the prospect of normalization with the Saudis can convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the wholesale slaughter of Gaza’s civilian population. I’m not sure anybody outside of the Biden administration still believes this, but I guess it’s still worth a shot. Blinken will head to Egypt, one of the mediators of the ceasefire talks, on Thursday before visiting Israel on Friday and heading home most likely without accomplishing very much.