“The Portuguese now ruled the Indian Ocean. . . . The consequences reached around the world. Much Italian splendor had been based on the wealth of the East pouring through Venice and Genoa. Now the traffic in Asiatic treasure—spices, drugs, gems, and silks—would no longer come through the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Levant, but on Portuguese ships around the Cape of Good Hope to Atlantic-facing Europe. . . .The Egyptian-Venetian trade was destroyed. The wealth of Asia, the fabled treasures of the Orient, were flowing west. The new Age of the Sea moved . . . commerce . . . from the coasts of a finite body, the closed Mediterranean . . . to the shores of the open Atlantic and the boundless world-reaching Oceans.”

—Daniel Boorstin, The Discoverers, 1983

According to Boorstin, why did the Portuguese establish control over trade in the Indian Ocean?

What trading powers lost power and wealth because of the new Portuguese trade routes?

How would future international trade be different because of Western European countries developing new trade routes?

2. The control of sea trade, the chief source of Portuguese wealth in the East, was assured by the defeat of Muslim naval forces off Diu in 1509. Almeida’s successor, Afonso de Albuquerque, conquered Goa (1510), which he made the seat of Portuguese power, and Malacca (1511); sent two expeditions to the Moluccas (1512 and 1514); and captured Hormuz in the Persian Gulf (1515).

3.Europe’s trade relationships with the developing world are up for review, but policymakers are failing to seize the opportunity. In February 2020, the Cotonou Agreement—an aid, trade, and political partnership between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries—will expire, paving the way for a new regional cooperation model.

Explanation: