Peter Espeut | Can leopards change their spots?

Knowledge of history provides insights into the present and peeks into the future. I hope this little excursus is of interest. In 1823, James Monroe, the fifth US president (1817-1825), declared US hegemony in the Americas by enunciating the Monroe Doctrine. Monroe declared that the US would not tolerate further efforts by European powers to retake or expand their colonial holdings in the Americas.