The Netherlands was once a liberal force for globalization. Has the country lost its way?
By Afshin Molavi Global Opinions – March 12 at 8:08 AM
Photo: Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom, in Schiphol, Netherlands, last year. (Michael Kooren/Reuters)
AMSTERDAM — Tucked away in a side street across from a hip clothing store, a Surinamese restaurant and a marijuana shop selling bongs and cannabis-infused tea, a monument to our global, interconnected economy and our modern way of life is largely ignored by passing tourists, students and locals. It’s no exaggeration to say that modern market capitalism was born on this spot on this month, exactly 415 years ago, when a trading company known as the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie — the United East India Company — was born. Continue reading
