Bunhill: Cocacolonisation

IT'S NICE to know that Cocacolonisation is alive and well in 195 countries, including Albania. As befits the symbol of capitalist consumerism, Coca-Cola was the first international company to invest in a production facility in the country, and was duly welcomed as such by President Berisha.

This is more of a breakthrough than it seems, since Albania was the only ex-Communist country in Europe where Coke had not done a deal with a local state-owned bottler in the past. Which explains why there are now 30 Coke plants in the former Soviet Union and seven in Poland alone.

So that when radicals want to attack American-style imperialism anywhere from Berlin to Vladivostok they will have a natural target - as well as the wherewithal to quench their thirst.