1/31/05
THE IRAQ ELECTION: WILL HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF
This past Sunday, when President Bush called the Iraq election a resounding success, was also the anniversary of the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam. Several months earlier, on September 1967, the US had also staged an election in South Vietnam. That election was called a "breakthrough" for democracy. Is history repeating itself?
1/30/05
1/29/05
1/28/05
1/27/05
Mapping the Global Future: The European Dream?
The European Dream?
Could Europe become a superpower by 2020? According to the CIA's "Mapping the Future Program model", an enlarged EU will enjoy increased clout in the world, but it will be hampered by the costs associated with supporting new members, by its aging population, and by the inefficient nature of its governing structures and decision-making processes. The Report sees Europe's major strength as being a model to the rest of the world for regional harmonization and governance. Defense spending is not expected to keep up with that of China, although the potential emergence of an EU army could create a replacement for NATO. The 2020 forecast touches upon Turkey's membership as the key to a united Europe's prospects: if Turkey successfully joins, Europe will be a strategic crossroads capable of forging stronger bonds with the Muslim world, Africa, and to the East, with Russia and Central Eurasia. New immigration will be the key to offsetting Europe's low birth rate, if more legal immigration and better integration of workers from other countries occurs over the next 15 years.
Work on the report began in late 2003, and brought together more than two dozen leading outside experts from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds to engage in a broad-gauged discussion with U.S. intelligence community analysts. Initial meetings were convened with experts in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and in an unprecedented expansion of the consultative process, regional conferences were held in countries on four continents-- in the UK, South Africa, Singapore, Chile, and Hungary -- in order to receive input from academics, policymakers, and representatives of NGOs. As well, the MGF's four custom-tooled scenarios were honed by contributions from three leading "futurists"-- Ted Gordon of the UN's Millennium Project, Jim Dewar, director of the RAND Corporation's Center for Longer Range Global Policy & Future of the Human Condition; and Ged Davis, former head of Shell International's scenarios project.
A copy is available for downloading on: http://www.foia.cia.gov/2020/2020.pdf
Could Europe become a superpower by 2020? According to the CIA's "Mapping the Future Program model", an enlarged EU will enjoy increased clout in the world, but it will be hampered by the costs associated with supporting new members, by its aging population, and by the inefficient nature of its governing structures and decision-making processes. The Report sees Europe's major strength as being a model to the rest of the world for regional harmonization and governance. Defense spending is not expected to keep up with that of China, although the potential emergence of an EU army could create a replacement for NATO. The 2020 forecast touches upon Turkey's membership as the key to a united Europe's prospects: if Turkey successfully joins, Europe will be a strategic crossroads capable of forging stronger bonds with the Muslim world, Africa, and to the East, with Russia and Central Eurasia. New immigration will be the key to offsetting Europe's low birth rate, if more legal immigration and better integration of workers from other countries occurs over the next 15 years.
Work on the report began in late 2003, and brought together more than two dozen leading outside experts from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds to engage in a broad-gauged discussion with U.S. intelligence community analysts. Initial meetings were convened with experts in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and in an unprecedented expansion of the consultative process, regional conferences were held in countries on four continents-- in the UK, South Africa, Singapore, Chile, and Hungary -- in order to receive input from academics, policymakers, and representatives of NGOs. As well, the MGF's four custom-tooled scenarios were honed by contributions from three leading "futurists"-- Ted Gordon of the UN's Millennium Project, Jim Dewar, director of the RAND Corporation's Center for Longer Range Global Policy & Future of the Human Condition; and Ged Davis, former head of Shell International's scenarios project.
A copy is available for downloading on: http://www.foia.cia.gov/2020/2020.pdf
1/26/05
1/25/05
1/24/05
1/23/05
1/22/05
1/21/05
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1/19/05
1/18/05
1/17/05
1/16/05
1/15/05
1/14/05
1/10/05
EU DIGEST
EU-DIGEST
Morren Mondial Associates Inc., has recently acquired EU-DIGEST.COM. A direct result of this acquisition is the incorporation of A-News, and all other electronic news reports, formally hosted by Europehouse.com, under this new name.
EU-Digest is a free on-line news service of Europe House, and provides news highlights and links to European related news reports on economic, social and political issues.
The content and format of EU-Digest will remain similar to that of A-News, but we hope that the new name will more accurately reflect the content of our European focused news. We appreciate your understanding for any technical glitches which might occur during the switchover from A-News to EU-Digest, and wish you productive reading pleasure.
Morren Mondial Associates Inc., has recently acquired EU-DIGEST.COM. A direct result of this acquisition is the incorporation of A-News, and all other electronic news reports, formally hosted by Europehouse.com, under this new name.
EU-Digest is a free on-line news service of Europe House, and provides news highlights and links to European related news reports on economic, social and political issues.
The content and format of EU-Digest will remain similar to that of A-News, but we hope that the new name will more accurately reflect the content of our European focused news. We appreciate your understanding for any technical glitches which might occur during the switchover from A-News to EU-Digest, and wish you productive reading pleasure.
1/9/05
1/8/05
The Gamer Generation is taking over the reins from the Baby Boomers
Are you finding it difficult to deal with kids who sit many hours a day behind their computers playing computer games?
Well think again.
Dawn has broken over this new Gamer Generation as the Baby Boomers fade away.
Right now there are people in their twenties and early thirties who have never known a time without digital games.
Well think again.
Dawn has broken over this new Gamer Generation as the Baby Boomers fade away.
Right now there are people in their twenties and early thirties who have never known a time without digital games.
They grew up in a world where Playstation was the biggest success in Sony's profits, and where Nintendo sold 1.4 billion video games. Even if the Game generation is different - will that matter to the rest of us? Absolutely. The Gamer Generation is already far greater in numbers than the Baby Boom Generation ever was. Right now, there are far more people who "speak" the language of games than there are Baby Boomers who don't.
Important to all of us is that the Gamer Generation is changing the way we do business today. Gamers believe winning matters - that much isn't surprising. But Gamers are actually savvier in many ways than their non-gamer counterparts, and may surprise the business world with their performance and skills.
Do any of these Gamer traits sound familiar to you?
• If you get there first, you win.
• Trial and error is the best strategy, and the fastest way to learn.
• Elders and their received wisdom can’t help, they don’t understand even the basics of this new world.
• There’s a limited set of tools, but some combinations will work.
Maybe some of these traits frustrated or surprised you, or maybe you’re seeing your own Gamer traits or those of your kids. Unlike Baby Boomers, Gamers want to be heroes. In their world, heroism is what it is all about. The question now is how to best harness this incredible new generation to help them achieve professional excellence and understand that after winning you should also show compassion for those who did not win.
John C. Beck, President of North Star Leadership Group, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center for the Digital Future, and a Senior Advisor at the Monitor Group, will keynote the international G.A.M.E.S. Synergy Summit to be held Wednesday-Friday, January 26th-28th, 2005 in Orlando. Dr. Beck researched and co-authored "Got Game: How the Gamer Generation is Reshaping Business Forever" (Harvard Business School Press, Fall 2004). He will share insights about the strengths, abilities, attitudes and learning styles of the under-34 gamer generation, distinctly different from the Baby Boomers, and how enterprises across all disciplines can adapt to encourage their best performance. An acronym for Government, Academic, Military, Entertainment and Simulation, the G.A.M.E.S. Synergy Summit brings together leaders from each of these convergent sectors to discover new ways that interactive game-based technologies can address a broad range of beneficial, non-entertainment applications.
1/7/05
24 HOUR MARATHON FUNDRAISER COLLECTS € 112.144.000 FROM DUTCH PUBLIC FOR TSUNAMI VICTIMS
24 HOUR MARATHON FUNDRAISER COLLECTS € 112.144.000 FROM DUTCH PUBLIC FOR TSUNAMI VICTIMS
In a 24 hour marathon fundraising effort the Dutch public donated around 112.144.000 euros (about 152 million US dollars) to the relief effort following the tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The figure is still on the rise, especially after numerous appeals were broadcast on Dutch radio stations, television, and in newspapers on Thursday.
The day-long event to secure funds for the victims of the Southeast Asian tsunami went through midnight and was watched by just about every Dutch household.
In addition, six million Dutch families will receive a direct debit card in the mail, with which they can transfer money to account number 555, a special national bank account for all disaster relief donations. In an open letter published Thursday in Dutch newspapers, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and opposition leader Wouter Bos called on the Dutch population to make generous donations to the relief fund. The Netherlands, a member of the European Union, has a population of aproximately 16 million people. Total amount of funds collected so far in the European Union have now reached approximately € 1 billion ( about 1.35 billion US dollars) .
In a 24 hour marathon fundraising effort the Dutch public donated around 112.144.000 euros (about 152 million US dollars) to the relief effort following the tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The figure is still on the rise, especially after numerous appeals were broadcast on Dutch radio stations, television, and in newspapers on Thursday.
The day-long event to secure funds for the victims of the Southeast Asian tsunami went through midnight and was watched by just about every Dutch household.
In addition, six million Dutch families will receive a direct debit card in the mail, with which they can transfer money to account number 555, a special national bank account for all disaster relief donations. In an open letter published Thursday in Dutch newspapers, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and opposition leader Wouter Bos called on the Dutch population to make generous donations to the relief fund. The Netherlands, a member of the European Union, has a population of aproximately 16 million people. Total amount of funds collected so far in the European Union have now reached approximately € 1 billion ( about 1.35 billion US dollars) .
1/6/05
1/4/05
1/3/05
1/2/05
1/1/05
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