In The News

Corporate Europe Ignores Diversity at its Peril

Marta Dassu November 30, 2005
The logic of obtaining the best possible candidates for a position seems to fall flat in the European corporate world, according to a recent study by European researchers. At the top of the business world, talent and qualifications may take a back seat to nationalistic hiring and promotion policies. In a survey of 450 different companies in the EU’s five biggest economies, the researchers found...

East-to-West Migration Remaking Europe

Kevin Sullivan November 29, 2005
Janis Neulans is a Latvian laborer embarking on a journey that is becoming more and more common these days. Neulans travelled from Latvia to Ireland, where he felt that he could build the type of life for himself that is not possible in his home country. Since Latvia and nine other countries were added to the European Union in May 2004, nearly 450,000 people, most of them from the same strained...

Putin Promises Oil Pipeline for Japan

James Brooke November 23, 2005
Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has promised a pipeline that will carry Siberian oil to Japan. His recent visit to Japan, where plans for the pipeline were discussed, appeared designed to incorporate Japan back into the Asian power triangle that currently emphasizes Russian and Chinese relations. The pipeline will unite Russia – the world’s second largest oil exporter – and Japan, one of...

Growth of Islam in Russia Brings Soviet Response

Steven Lee Myers November 22, 2005
Muslims have never enjoyed as much freedom in Russia as they do today. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there has been an Islamic revival of sorts in Russia. Muslims number 10 to 16 percent of the Russian population, and Islam is recognized as one of Russia’s four official religions. Yet that tolerance is tinged with suspicion, and some Muslims feel they are being persecuted. A perception...

France is Not Alone in Living Above a Volcano

Michel Rocard November 18, 2005
In the past weeks, the violent and contagious Paris riots drew the attention of the world to the presence of a large mass of unemployed minority teens in France’s urban center. Many commentators have focused their responses on the lack of social integration of the country’s predominantly North African minorities. Offering a different interpretation, former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard...

Dutch Virtue of Tolerance Under Strain

Roger Cohen November 17, 2005
While immigration, especially of Muslims, has long been an issue for Europeans, it has recently taken on a greater urgency. The Netherlands is a prime example of a European society in which the failed integration of Muslims and their children has produced an untenable situation. No longer is the debate on Muslim immigration centered on the capacities of welfare systems. Now it is a matter of...

Why the French Love Their Farmers

Philip H. Gordon November 15, 2005
French President Jacques Chirac has admitted to a "profound malaise" in the country that led to the recent rioting, but French policy on farm subsidy is emerging as another source of malaise within the European Community. Policymakers all over the world are calling for great reductions in EU farm subsidies, since such reform would help stave off budgetary crisis as well as bring EU...