In The News

Dole Blues

David Gow March 23, 2006
About one out of every four young adults in France – and one out of two in some parts of France – can’t find a job, and so the government has attempted reforms that would make youth more attractive for employers and decrease unemployment rates. The proposal would allow large companies to fire young workers, without question, within two years. A similar plan for small- and mid-sized companies went...

The Arab Connection to Chechen Conflict

Faryal Leghari March 21, 2006
An Arab influence continues to transform secessionist efforts in Chechnya into a drive for an Islamic state. Islam, long part of the region’s identity, however, was not the impetus for nationalistic movement to separate from Russia, underway since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Al Qaeda has funded Chechen rebels and also trained many in Afghanistan, and the Russian government has taken...

Hacking Made Easy

Brian Krebs March 17, 2006
Russia has a work force that is technologically skilled and underemployed. As a result, some savvy tech workers turn to crime, creating web sites and software aimed to collect financial details from unsuspecting victims in the US, Europe and South America. The Russian internet is home to sites that can break into computers abroad through a security hole in Microsoft's Internet Explorer web...

Economic Patriotism and the Mittal Effect on Europe

M.N. Hebbar March 14, 2006
France has rallied to prevent an Indian firm from taking over Arcelor, the largest steelmaker in Europe, suggesting that the continent is not serious about the free flow of capital, goods and services. French politicians claim they are motivated by “economic patriotism,” a synonym for protectionism, and urge investors and the board of directors to fight the purchase, defying their own best...

Immigration Shakeup Will Bar Most Unskilled Workers From Outside EU

Alan Travis March 13, 2006
A new points-based immigration system – based on aptitude, experience, age, and shortages in the labor market – will go into effect in 2008, the biggest shakeup in British immigration law in 40 years. The plan assumes that low-skilled help can be found within the EU, and an advisory board will determine annual quotas for occupations that have a shortage of workers. According to the new system,...

Blame It on Voltaire: Muslims Ask French to Cancel 1741 Play

Andrew Higgins March 9, 2006
In the small French town of Saint-Genis-Pouilly, a conflict arose in 2005 that prefigured the Danish cartoon crisis and tested willingness to defend the right to free speech. The target of Muslim outrage then was one of the Enlightenment’s leading men of letters – Voltaire, or Francois-Marie Arouet. A reading of his play, “Fanaticism, or Mahomet the Prophet,” excited a small riot – “the most...

German Firms and the Wild West of Globalization

March 7, 2006
Today, any company’s survival depends on its ability to follow the twists and turns of the global economy. Presiding over the game are investors, analysts and fund managers who demand profits. Success can be a Darwinian proposition, with corporate legacy no longer a priority – and three German firms provide case studies on strategies for adapting to rapid globalization and overseas competition...