I consider the 1960 Wind of Change speech by Harold MacMillan to constitute a turning point in the history of the modern world.
Soon thereafter, African nations, carved out randomly in 1884 by the Berlin Conference without any regard whatsoever for ethnic realities, began looking to the Soviet Union for support in their struggle for independence. One of the consequences of that process of close collaboration was the invention of the so-called African Socialism which, together with high levels of corruption and tribal conflict, led the continent into indescribable poverty.
The way the world is evolving now, it is quite conceivable that, within a century, Africans will all be speaking Chinese.
In South America, the process of change has been different. Inspired by his boyhood hero Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez crafted his own model of Amerindian Socialism and is now turning to Iran for strategic alliances. So far, he has only been able to impoverish Venezuela.
For reasons that are probably only obvious to me, I can't envisage the Venezuelans speaking Arabic, but, the way things are going, by the time Chávez is finished with his improvements, it is quite conceivable that they will end up living once more in the Maya pyramids.
