ABSTRACT
The end of the Cold War ushered in expectations for an end to the lingering racial divisions of colonialism and the remains of racism in the settler states. Racial genocide could be halted, it was hoped, with greater international oversight and the use of the International Criminal Court. Instead, the transnational economy recharged the engines of private capital, rekindled national rivalries and reaffirmed racial inequalities in both older and newer countries. China’s Belt and Road Initiative appeared as a new rendition of traditional imperial ambition. Economic and social inequalities expanded in what seemed to be a new gilded age of globe-trotting billionaires. New legal means of shielding private capital from regulatory oversight, taxation and transparency were created. Capital flowed with the speed of light while labor boundaries were enforced by border guards and unions that were dependent for their legitimacy on their nation-state. Migrations to places of hope or refuge subjected travelers to racist restrictions and resentments with reenergized political power. Race, nation and capital remained as forcefully interconnected after 500 years as ever. A renaissance of democracy and international cooperation were the only antidotes, but they appeared stalled or on the defensive.
