Asian politics committee reviews coffee grinder

Asia is the largest and most populated continent on Earth, comprising 47 individual nation states that vary a lot in terms of religion, culture and politics.  Because of the shear size and diversity in Asia, as well as its long and rich history – the political nature of the region is extremely varied and comprises a number of different political ideologies and movements.  Constitutional and absolute monarchies, one-party states, liberal democracies, and militant dictatorships can all be found somewhere in Asia.  Economic growth and industrialisation in some Asian nations are also changing the political structure of the entire region.  There are a number of important agricultural industries throughout Asia, with coffee being one that a number of nations partly depend on for their continued growth and political stability.

Coffee can be traced back to the 9th century in the highlands of Ethiopia, from where it initially spread to Egypt and Yemen and eventually all over the world.  The Ethiopian legend which mentions the birth of coffee talks of how local shepards noticed an increased energy in goats after they ingested coffee beans.  Coffee beans were first roasted and brewed once they spread to Arabia, in a process similar to how coffee is made today.  While we might use a mechanical or electric coffee grinder today, the same basic process has been in use for hundreds of years.  After it hit the streets of Arabia, coffee moved quickly to Persia, Turkey and the nations of north Africa.

The link between coffee and the Islamic world was strong at this time – around the 15th century – and it was not until later that coffee was introduced to Italy and subsequently to the rest of Europe.  The first coffee house in Europe opened in Italy in 1645, and this helped coffee to slowly reached acceptance as a Christian drink as well as a Muslim one.  Coffee is now grown and used all over the globe, and is now one of the world’s most valuable legally traded commodities.  For many third world countries in Asia, coffee is a very valuable crop that forms a large part of many national economies.  The coffee plant is native to many south-eastern Asian nations, making growing it as a cash crop a very achievable proposition.  Vietnam and Indonesia  are two of the biggest coffee production centres in the world, and the money generated from coffee in these nations helps to maintain a stable political situation in the region as well as a stable economic one.

The coffee industry has grown and grown over the last couple of hundred years, to reach the situation that we know today.  A coffee machine can now be found in most cafes around the world, and in a lot of private kitchens as well.  It is not unusual to see a modern office with a coffee machine or grinder sitting in the staff room, providing employees with an energy hit during their breaks.  As the nations of Asia grow in economic prosperity, many new political and cultural challenges will have to be faced.  For many of these countries, coffee production is a big part of this prosperity, and the continued popularity of coffee worldwide can only be positive for the political stability in the region.