How the Internet Fuels Terrorism

How the Internet Fuels Terrorism Free Online Research Papers The First Amendment is the bedrock of the United States, and without adherence to First Amendment rights and privileges, America will suffer. The Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA) was first enacted in 1978 and subsequently modified extensively with the USA Patriot Act of 2001. After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the federal government ramped up its security investigations to gather intelligence on foreign terrorist groups seeking to destroy the spread of democracy. The proliferation of satellite communications is allowing these terrorist groups to exchange information and coordinate attacks on their â€Å"enemies.† Introduction The First Amendment’s protection of free speech is the United States’ bedrock and is being threatened by the internet explosion that is being misused by global terrorists. The explosion in technology over the last two decades laid the framework for interconnectivity opening communication channels twenty-four hours per day, 365 days per year to every corner of the world. Internet connections can be achieved with satellite technology through out the globe allowing entrepreneurs to maintain continuous trade, medical professionals to collaborate cures, academics to correlate research, law enforcement to snoop on every human being and terrorists to plot world destruction. With any good technology, there are always those schemers trying to make illicit profits or to cause harm to settle personal vendettas or advance personal goals. In particular, the United States has taken up radical Islamists as its twenty-first century enemy. The U.S. government has reorganized nation al security to battle the terrorists until financial ruin or victory is achieved over the terrorists. To battle terrorists, America primarily uses the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA) first enacted in 1978 and subsequently modified extensively with the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001801-000-.html). After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the federal government ramped up its security investigations to gather intelligence on foreign terrorist groups seeking to destroy the spread of democracy. The proliferation of satellite communications allows terrorist groups to exchange information and coordinate attacks on their â€Å"enemies.† FISA provisions of court ordered warrants by Supreme Court nominees and the Constitution are now being ignored for the sake of fighting the global war on terror. Freedom of Speech When the founding fathers began writing the constitution of the USA it focused on individual rights and responsibilities. The first known formalization of the concept of free speech recorded is the appearance of Sir Thomas More before King Henry VIII in 1523 (Freedom of Speech, 2007). Since free speech has been a governmental concept for only the last six centuries, continued prescription is inevitable. With today’s litigious society, limits and expanses of free speech will be continually challenged. The United Nations in 1948 attempted to universalize the right to free speech without fear of incarceration (Freedom of Speech, 2007). Certain speech that is intended to incite a riot or violence is generally restricted as the public need to peace and tranquility takes the forefront. Referencing Wikipedia, one must note that many countries are listed for their advances in declarations of rights to free speech, but it is quite notable that Middle Eastern countries are missing . This paper will attempt to bring to the forefront the immense challenge of encouraging technology deployment while maintaining a vigilant watch on terrorists that seek to do harm to America and its many freedom partners. Regulations That Promote Free Speech The Constitution and its Bill of Rights are the foundation of the Freedom of Speech. Our judicial system continually referees challenges to the First Amendment. Landmark cases that limit free speech are noteworthy and somewhat numerous: 1) Miller test for obscenity, 2) Copyright protections, 3) Roth versus the United States, and 4) the Pruneyard Case. Freedom of speech in the U.S. generally allows anyone to say anything, print any publication, or broadcast any media without censorship only to defend its permissibility and its innocence after the fact. Larry Flint is one of those willing to challenge all boundaries of obscenity and be very willing to suffer the consequences. Flint could definitely be called a First Amendment martyr. With so many means of media and communication, many federal agencies come into the foray to protect free speech. Besides federal, common and case law, the United States takes to heart international law such as the United Nations Universal Declaratio n of Human Rights. Article 19 of that UN declaration states, everyone has the right to opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers (Freedom of Speech, 2007). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with its traditional challenge of reigning in unruly broadcasters and publishers must now face the perils of unfettered internet access. The internet opens up so many means of communicating – both beneficial and harmful. Specifically the FCC utilizes post facto sanctions to punish media providers that violate community standards definitions of obscenity or indecency. Since internet transmissions can come from anywhere in the world into every living room in the world, the FCC has an almost insurmountable challenge to protect the new digital age of communication while building â€Å"firewalls† to protect against terrorism. Protecting Internet Free Speech The First Amendment will always take the form of granite for America with the judicial system continuing to define the crystals that form the rock. Public action groups such as www.savetheinternet.com and www.MoveOn.org serve as citizen referees to maintain the internet and other public venues available to all to express opinions openly. A recent victory for these groups was the defeat of Senator Ted Stevens’ H.R. 5252 Telco bill that was seen as very pro-industry and anti-public in nature (Huge Victory†¦, 2007). The bill and the subsequent fight to defeat featured the concept of net neutrality. Net neutrality focuses on the process design of the internet and not the content; passage of the Stevens’ bill would have allowed internet providers to price web content according to a scale that would have left public non-corporate content at hit 1,000,000 plus. Most call the processing system of the internet, the pipes (internet backbone on servers, fiber optic netwo rks and web portals). Supporters of net neutrality stress that the pipe owners maintain a reasonable separation so content will not be slanted too far left or right. Traditional media such as newspapers definitely show political leanings by their editorials, and the internet serves as the virtual scales of justice. While net neutrality focused on the backbone, other groups trying to protect the internet are the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT). One example of federal law protecting internet content was the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that offers protection to intellectual property (Free Speech, 2006). Such property takes the form of something as simple as clipart: ?. One well established protection for reporters that allows anonymous sources to remain anonymous is being afforded via internet bloggers for the most part. These attempts to extend free speech protections to the digital world closely track laws and regulations in the traditional beacons of transparency: vagueness, overbreadth, and prior restraint. With the internet being the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed, the right to free speech will be tested until t he end of time. Invasions of Privacy Big brother is watching. George Orwell would love to rewrite his classic book, 1984, based on such organizations as the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell (AWRAC) (Reed, 2007). AWARAC operates automated surveillance of troops’ blogs and web content to control careless or possible malicious release of secret data. In the meantime AWARAC can scan soldier’s complaints. Many soldiers typically disagree at one time or another about command’s direction, but the internet allows a bon fire of unlimited blogging that could lead to detrimental troop morale. This example portrays the possibility of common citizen monitoring very plausible. Of course, it is not illegal to search the internet for say military complaints randomly, but if the government sets up digital programs to monitor all lanes of free speech that leaders find displeasing, an invasion of privacy is inevitable. The internet has given birth to the newest crime category and venue of today: cyber crime and internet terrorism. These new crime areas threaten aviation, financial security, national security, identities and national defense. Committing criminal or forbidden acts can take the simple form of posting a blog where an Army unit is traveling. Travel fears should ripple when someone hacks into the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control server to change location displays of various aircraft in order that several horrendous crashes occur simultaneously. The question remains, if individuals knowingly or innocently violate laws and regulations, does that give the government carte blanche to monitor all internet transmissions? This appears to violate the innate right of Americans to say and print almost anything to only suffer consequences later. To battle these new crime channels, governments must tune traditional intelligence gathering and sharing paradigms. To establish and adjudicate security clearances for all levels of government is essentially unachievable. To fight these new breeds of terrorists, all levels of government must be keen to threats, vigilantly share information with other agencies and in turn receive valuable intelligence to shift resources in preparation for upcoming attacks. Intelligence officers today need to be master surfers as well as master data analysts. When all sects of society join together and the federal government sharpens their intelligence frameworks, homeland security can be continuously improved. Global Internet Technologies To imagine that America’s homeland security can be threatened by something as simple as a bicycle powered generator and a 30-inch dish with a $150 laptop changes all preconceived ideas of typical criminal backrooms. Simple technology is being developed to spread educational opportunities throughout the world, but that same capability can easily deliver Al Qaeda’s next operation order to attack a U.S. Embassy in Tanzania. Communication has always been vital to the battlefield, but with instantaneous messaging, Osama Bin Laden could direct a strike against any target at any time with a $100 GPS that is accurate to within 100 feet. Various groups will continue the development of simple and easy to use computing technologies, and this information sharing may help inform diverse groups to understand others so they are not feared or hated. One such foundation is One Laptop Per Child which deploys laptops to impoverished children (Hilton, 2006). These laptops do not have much software but come with wireless network connectivity. Network connections take the form of existing cellular telephone networks, long-range microwave and satellite fed networks. Besides expansion of educational opportunities, this technology explosion opens up new venues for holding national elections, agricultural trading, medical treatment extension, and banking. Internet Technologies Used by Terrorist Originally hackers were very annoying to the point that computers were corrupted requiring operating systems to be reinstalled. Bruce Berkowitz stated in 2001, â€Å"the real threat is not the hackers you see; it’s the ones you don’t.† Now those same hackers are being hired by terrorists to look for data to discover vulnerabilities of their enemies to cause havoc. The simplest method to battle an electronic enemy is to develop advanced technology continuously: firewalls, encryption programs, and training vigilant users. This technology of course has to be home grown. Traditional national security intelligence efforts are known for their reports and briefs and now need to be known for their internet savvy. If the federal government can attract young techies with the glamour to be the next 007, our intelligence efforts will be back at the forefront. As vast and diverse illicit uses of the internet become evermore prevalent, the costs to society to counter cyberterrorism will impact the free flow of information. Intelligence agencies must reform around internet connectivity to analyze potential enemies as well as serving as the microscope to dissect who and what is being planned. Some of the many ways the internet can be used by terrorists are psychological warfare, propaganda, fundraising, recruitment, data mining, and coordination of actions. Foreign Terrorist Organizations designated under the U.S. Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 almost all unanimously maintained websites by year 2000 (Weimann, 2004). These organizations employ webmasters that change internet protocol (IP) addresses almost daily and upload and remove websites as quick as a mouse click. The first avenue of eight different ways to use the internet by terrorists is psychological warfare. All modern armies use some psychological warfare. Terrorist are very good at disinformation causing fear and panic with fake attacks. This method draws eerie similarities to Orson Well’s War of the World’s infamous radio show nearly effecting pandemonium. Information is powerful, and terrorists who learn how and when to spread disinformation may cause almost as much damage as rockets. The USA’s most wanted terrorist organization, Al Qaeda, wages continuous fake attacks on the US, like white envelopes with white powder. These attacks typically cause some level of alarm that impacts the stock and bond markets, but principally diverts intelligence resources away from a possible another September 11, 2001. The second focus area, publicity and propaganda, are used by terrorists to gain public awareness and empathy for their cause and financial support. One key area that is always stressed is the perils faced by their captured comrades. Those prisoners are touted as being religious zealots not terrorists. Religious groups should have a free reign to practice their religion, but when that practice takes the form of collaborated Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), those groups must be controlled. Terrorists claim that their point of view will not be heard without explosions, that their way of life is being attacked by the West, and that their espousing of sovereignty is their sole goal. All of these goals gel easily around the internet’s free, unfettered and uncensored communication. It is strange to think that the internet is the ultimate symbol of a free world but is also a terrorist’s greatest weapon. The third area that terrorists focus on is data mining. This area is exploited by all parties – good and bad. When one thinks that there are over a billion pages of information on the internet, it is easy to see that this is much more valuable than all the South African diamond mines together. A simple Yahoo search on the term â€Å"internet terrorism† yields over 24 million hits. Since the internet grows by the nanosecond, information analyzing is becoming infinite. Terrorists form such organizations as the Muslim Hackers Club who disseminates sensitive or classified information such as Secret Service radio frequencies, electronic virus tutorials, and building blueprints (Weimann, 2004). When the US discovered Al Qaeda with U.S. dam drawings, the Army Corps of Engineers stop posting engineering project designs as a part of contract solicitations. These contract packages are now only available on a bona fide need to know. A real security challenge remains to pro tect key infrastructure sites around the world, and this increasing effort to protect will no doubt close venues to public access in the future. How is all of this paid for? Fundraising on the internet becomes a very economical means. Howard Dean displayed in the 2004 US Presidential election that raising funds on the internet is very viable. Terrorist publish overseas account numbers for sympathizers to make deposits. Many groups that appear to be legitimate non-profits are in fact fronts for jihadist groups. One uncanny example is that of Sami Hussayen who was a doctoral candidate in computer science supported by the National Security Agency. He was found to be creating websites that disseminated radical jihadist messages. Supporters of various terrorists are recruited and mobilized easily through the web and its many tangles. The perils of internet cookies tastes bitter when one is considered to be targeted for donations or moral support because of their perusing of terrorist websites. Principally the internet is used to sway sympathizers to join the militias based on their anti-American propaganda and religious decrees. Al Qaeda is the principal group using the internet to stage recruitment campaigns. The internet is also used to invoke public displays of support as demonstrated by the world wide collective protest to the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdist terrorist group, Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) (Weimann, 2004). The internet perfectly enables Al Qaeda and Hamas to form loose coalitions of terrorism organizations. Since these organizations are constantly being hunted by the western world, a traditional hierarchical structure is not easily maintained. The internet lends itself to horizontally organized groups dispersed all over the world. Bombs are being built by these groups with online assembly manuals, and the terror cells are formed lightening quick and text message operation orders are issued to place and detonate those bombs. The seventh area terrorists are using the internet is information sharing – collaboration. Three scary publications found on the internet are 1) The Terrorist’s Handbook, 2) The Anarchist Cookbook and 3) The Mujahadeen Poisons Handbook. Of course the best of those 3 manuals along with other terrorist publications are collated into The Encyclopedia of Jihad (Weimann, 2004). Information on the internet with evil purposes is not solely privileged for Jihadist groups but also inspires individuals to formulate individual evil. Many other examples in the free world display the unpredictable consequences of having such malevolence information available freely on the internet. The eighth portal that the internet opens to terrorists is the planning and coordination efforts that can be conducted virtually. Planners of September 11, 2001 used public free email accounts to transmit cryptic messages from public internet terminals. Graphic files are used frequently with operation orders embedded behind the graphics for concealment. Anti-terrorist organizations have focused their efforts normally on cyber terrorism and not the routine transmission of complex encrypted email messages containing the next 9-1-1. When the battle begins on the many ways that terrorists use the internet, democracy may be dealt blows with losses of privacy. Terrorists are starting to finance their campaigns by conducting cyber crimes, e.g. brokering stolen corporate secrets. Gabriel Weimann stated in 2004, â€Å"It is a paradox: those movements who criticize Western technology and modernity are using the West’s most advanced communication technology, the Internet, to spread their message.† As this digital cat and mouse continue their chase, the U. S. Government must balance their aggression against sacred freedoms. Counter Internet Terrorism FISA, Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act, first enacted in 1978 as a reaction to the new cold war, started with good intentions, but have gone awry in recent years. FISA is the federal government’s most lethal homeland operation platform available to fight terrorism in general. Along with FISA, the more recent USA Patriot Act added complimentary defensive postures. Besides laws, our government uses Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening Systems (CAPPS II), Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), the Defense Advanced Projects Administration (DARPA), Terrorist Information Awareness (TIA), and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board (PCLB) (Steinberg, Graham Eggers, 2003). These modern efforts to secure our national security are force multipliers to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). If all of these national laws, regulations and agencies are worked in concert, all Americans will be safer. FISA details procedures for electronic and physical surveillance and gathering of foreign intelligence information that is between foreign powers. This intelligence gathering should be for the sake of finding terrorist cells that intend harm on America or Americans living abroad. FISA’s very secret court that approves almost baseless warrants to perform physical searches or electronic surveillance programs started being used extensively in year 2000 under President Clinton and even more frequently under the Bush Administration. This secret court is comprised of 11 judges appointed by the Supreme Court Chief Justice and is housed in the Department of Justices. Troubling concerns became public in recent years that the President of the United States conducted electronic surveillance specifically without FISA warrants in the name of fighting the Global War on Terror. FISA was significantly revised with the USA Patriot Act of 2001 to allow intelligence gathering activities on foreign groups that may or may not be backed by a foreign government. The USA Patriot Act approved by Congress as a result of the tragedy of September 11, 2001 was the greatest step-change that the Federal Government has promulgated to protect America while threatening our freedoms commonly called privacy rights. Privacy rights are definitely going to be violated as the Patriot Act is utilized, but it is the terrorist that the wire taps, data mining, and various cyber probes were supposed to target. The Patriot Act is supposed to be used to find foreign threats that generally reside within the United States. Common reactions leading to the Patriot Act were to never allow terrorist to be trained to fly planes in the U.S., travel around the country freely or violate VISA requirements. One overarching goal of the Patriot Act is to coalesce local, state and federal law enforcement agencies into a homogenous intelligence gathering and sharing team to stop terrorists. CAPPS II is being tested by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), an agency formed as a result of 9-11-01 (Steinberg, Graham Eggers, 2003). TSA intends to scan all commercial airliner passenger manifests looking for potential terrorists. TTIC a creation of 2003 vintage by the George W. Bush administration offers another very pervasive avenue into our everyday lives (Steinberg, Graham Eggers, 2003). TTIC seeks to coordinate information sharing between various intelligence gathering agencies. The goal of TTIC is not to gather more information, but rather to facilitate the collaboration of intelligence agencies to gain analytical synergies. Successful collaboration could lead to protections for critical infrastructure such as agriculture, transportation, water resources, and energy. DARPA sponsors research into data mining techniques and pattern recognition technologies that could develop new tools to discover terrorist plots or battlefield plans by the enemy. One s uch program to mine data is TIA (Steinberg, Graham Eggers, 2003). TIA is designed to detect terrorist groups planning attacks against America. TIA serves as the ultimate blender to integrate various technologies to provide tools to authorized intelligence and law enforcement agencies to gather critical data to detect terrorists. To possibly balance the three above intelligence agencies, the five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Board has secretly operated for almost a year and will make its first report to Congress soon (Yen, 2007). The Board was intended to be a watchdog over the various FISA and Patriot Act reforms to determine if they have caused unruly invasions into private lives. The Board has looked at international financial transaction monitoring, warrant less eavesdropping, and the Homeland Security Department’s no-fly lists. The Board was tasked with looking at how the various oversight activities were conducted so that national security validated warrants and searches without warrants did not cause irreparable harm to America. Citizen Protections from Counter Terrorism Activities FISA courts were set up to serve the President while providing some means of protection for our citizen liberties. One really has to wonder why President Bush avoids the court formed to protect America. In 2000, Judge Lambert discovered that the FBI was misleading the court on the purpose of national security wiretaps. As a result of this court’s actions, tremendously needed wiretaps of Al Qaeda suspects were shut down. Immediate search and seizures in the name of foreign terrorist surveillance can be made without a warrant, but must be certified by the Attorney General after the fact. Domestically, the FISA court serves as the principal gatekeeper, but internationally the young Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime (CECC) steps into the foray to offer some common sense (Cybercrime Hacking, 2007). Anytime a process is validated by several countries, it should offer greater individual freedom protections. Only time will tell if this international intelligence gathering venue truly gets to the source quicker and more efficiently while avoiding violations of citizen’s personal life. Since all of these information gathering methods involve some form of communication, it must be obvious to realize that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must play a key role in protecting constitutional freedoms. A crucial supporting cast to the FCC is the Homeland Security Policy Council (HSPC, 2007). HSPC was formed in late 2001 to strengthen measures to protect U.S. telecommunications, broadcast and communications infrastructure. HSPC was also tasked with being the emergency coordination agency in the event of terrorist attacks on communication systems, providing the means of last resort for first responders to effectively communicate. It is essential that the FCC plays a key role in terrorism awareness as that agency is able to reserve vital frequencies for communication. National disasters such as Hurricane Katrina clearly displayed the importance of interoperability. Besides government sponsored internet protectors, grass roots organizations such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) maintain websites devoted to uncovering enemies of the internet (Enemies of the internet, 2006). As of November 2006 RSF listed 13 blacklisted countries. RSF has organized online coordinated protests to show worldwide support to maintain a free open internet. A free uncensored internet will keep bloggers posting their complaints about countries that are traditional human rights violators, e.g. China, Iran and North Korea. It will certainly be very interesting to watch whether penetrating U.S. intelligence activities could actually plop America on the predator of freedoms list. Global War on Terror (GWOT) Over $700 billion spent in the last four years and no closer to finding Osama bin Laden or weapons of mass destruction (WMD) makes every taxpayer cringe at the thought of continuing the fight for years to come. The answer to this world dilemma will come from innovative novel solutions. One such potential solution is allowing young scientists to craft means to destroy satellites virtually or physically. The Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico houses one such simple group formed to achieve those results. The group is named Space Countermeasures Hands On Program or Space CHOP (Shachtman, 2007). For example this group may go to the neighborhood electronic store to build simple devices that block vital satellite signals. Discovering these vulnerabilities along with hacking in their free time, define the next defensive front that must be armed and ready to protect national assets. For the free world to achieve a semblance of terrorism control, it is simple to see that to be able to fight modern terrorists, one must think and act like one. When someone considers that an individual can peddle an exercise bike to generate electricity to connect to the World Wide Web to transmit a lethal operational order that releases deadly attacks on trains in Spain, advances in counter-terrorism are critical. Instant messaging becomes a normal means of communication for battlefield commanders via PDA’s linked to satellite or cellular systems. Information is available to understand the issues; one such web page by the Counterproliferation Center of the U.S. Air Force lists 28 pages of links (GWOT, 2007). One day, counter terrorism classes may become as common as First Aid classes. Sacrifices for Security Intelligence gathering will not subside anytime soon, so the question must be answered how America will maintain privacy for every citizen and organization. Discussions are really just beginning to start with the apparently never ending GWOT. The public has only learned within the last year or so that the President of the United States authorized search and seizures without warrants to gain information about potential foreign terrorists. Regulations to protect us also offer invasions into every personal life. FISA, CIA, FBI, and our military are intended to make peace, but they also offer chaos. Becoming a better and stronger nation must be the goal of our leaders for all facets of life: education, economics, medical care, safety and democracy. Democracy is what sets America apart with its unlimited entrepreneurial spirit. This spirit in a sense makes close bedfellows with internet hackers. Hopefully each reader can see that creating an atmosphere that allows some harmless hacking actually presents opportunities to build new firewalls from terrorists. The key to fighting today’s and tomorrow’s radical terrorists lies within the internet. Sophisticated terrorists are the norm, and America must develop a new army of cyber warriors. Do you feel the calling? References Attacking Terrorist Networks at Home and Abroad, The White House, Washington, accessed February 20, 2007. Becker, Gary S., Why a Crash Wouldn’t Cripple The Economy, Hoover Digest No. 4, Hoover Institution, 1997. Berkowitz, Bruce, Fixing U.S. Intelligence, Hoover Institution, March 19, 2001. Berkowitz, Bruce, Preparing for the Computer Wars, Hoover Institution, August 13, 2001. Censorship Fears over New Online Ethics Commission, Reporters Without Borders, February 16, 2007. Cybercrime and Hacking, Computer World, IDG News, August 04, 2006. Enemies of the Internet Named, BBC News, London, November 7, 2006. FCC To Study ISP Business Practices, Stars and Stripes Volume 4, Number 346, Department of the Defense(DOD), 2007. 50 USC 1801, , law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001801-000-.html, accessed April 21, 2007. Flexible Deployment Assistance Guide 2nd Edition, Packet Mode Communications, Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act – CALEA, August 2001. For $150, Third-World Laptop Stirs Big Debate, New York Times, November 11, 2006. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, Wikipedia, accessed February 4, 2007. Free Expression, Center For Democracy Technology(CDT), 2007. Free Speech, Electronic Privacy Information Center, 2007. Freedom of Speech, Wikipedia.org, 2007. Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), U.S. Air Force Counterproliferation Center(USAFCC), accessed February 21, 2007. Glusing, Jens, Rao, Padma Himar Schmundt, The Dirt Road to the Information Superhighway, Spiegel Online, June 01, 2006. Goodman, Seymour Sofaer, Abraham, The Transnational Dimension of Cyber Crime and Terrorism, Hoover Institution, 2007. Help Us Protect Free Speech Online, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), 2007. Homeland Security Policy Council, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, accessed February 21, 2007. Huge Victory for Real People as Telco Bill Dies, savetheinternet.com, 2006. Lame Duck Alert: Don’t Let Senators Sell Us Out, savetheinternet.com, 2006. Lawmakers: Abuses Could Lead to Cuts in FBI Power, Associated Press, Stars and Stripes Volume 4, Number 343, Department of the Defense (DOD), 2007. Nakashima, Ellen, Business transactions rely on flawed terror watch list, Washington Post, Stars and Stripes, March 28, 2007. O’Brien, Teri, Did the FISA Court Stop Us From Connecting the Dots?, Free Republic, January 3, 2006. Privacy Technology: Internet Free Speech, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 2007. Reed, Fred, Troops’ Blogs Under Scrutiny, Washington Times, February 17, 2007. Shachtman, Noah, The Satellite Hackers, Popular Mechanics, February 2007. Sniffen, Michael J., FBI chief defends bureau’s authority to spy, Associated Press, Stars and Stripes, March 28, 2007. Steinberg, James B., Graham, Mary, Eggers, Andrew, Building Intelligence to Fight Terrorism, The Brookings Institution, September 2003. Swartz, Jon, Terrorists’ use of Internet spreads, USATODAY.com, February 20, 2005. Weimann, Gabriel, www.terror.net: How Modern Terrorism Uses the Internet, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), March, 2004. Yen, Hope, Board OKs eavesdropping, financial tracking, The Associated Press (AP), Washington, March 7, 2007. 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Constitutional understanding - Term Paper Example As time passed, a lot of things became introduced and others amended in the constitution. There got ways that can be used to bring changes in the constitution in order to enhance more positive rights. Cass advised on the proper way to have positive rights put in the American constitution (Sanford 45). He continues by saying that through constitution conventions, constitutional amendments Matthew in his book We Hold These Truths tries to oversee and connect some of the principles lay down during nation founding with some of the thorniest issues today (Matthew 23). In being a constitutional scholar, he analyzes and even gives some 10 transformational initiatives in an attempt to seek to provide the necessary education regarding constitutional self government and liberty to policy makers, news media and even regular Americans. In his book, he states some of the first principles laid down by the forefathers and tries to suggest applicable solutions to problems being faced nowadays in terms of liberty. In the establishment of liberty in the American constitution, meant quite a lot to the citizens. In the beginning, liberty encompassed a broad scope of some human freedom and entailed dimensions like political, economic, intellectual plus religious aspects. Matthew in his book explores how the forefathers wanted liberty to be and gives solutions on how conservatives could revert it. Matthew believes that the first principles started becoming eroded in the early 20th and late 19th more so due to centralization, relativism, bureaucracy and lies therefore undermining the vision the fore founders had for the constitution (Matthew 45). In his book, he adds that the victory by Republicans remains as another way to demonstrate how the Americans still believe in some of the visions outlined by some of the founding fathers in forming the constitution. According to Sanford in the

Plato’s and Cicero’s life and Political Ideas Essay Example for Free

Plato’s and Cicero’s life and Political Ideas Essay Between 429-347 BCE, were the period of Plato and his ocean of philosophical dispositions and carried the most deep-seated political, social and intellectual thoughts. His questions raised the consciousness of intellectuals, students and general people making them think every aspect of their life from new and fresh perspective. As said by Alfred North Whitehead, â€Å"All Western philosophy consists of footnotes to Plato. † (Garvey 7) Plato was a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, and naturally in his works there is a reflection of Socrates thoughts and ideologies. But while remembering, Plato we should not forget Cicero, 106-43 B. C. who was himself part of many of the political developments of his time. He was not only a philosopher but also an orator, lawyer and politician. He laid more importance to politics over philosophy. His philosophical works came about only in the period when he was forced to refrain himself from politics. Though he was neither considered as exceptional thinker nor we can see any originality in his works yet his thoughts on various aspects of philosophy exerted tremendous influence on many thinkers after many years to come. His popularity rose in 19th century. There is no comparison between Plato and Cicero as they were both of different ages and had their own distinct attributes, yet if we give deep thoughts into their philosophical works what we get is what we call slight deviations in their thoughts on Politics. Plato was born in Athens during 428-7 B. C. E but there is no certainty about this date because according to Diogenes Laertius, Plato was born in the same year when Pericles died. He was also considered to be six years younger than Socrates was and his death came when he passed the youthful years of his life-at the age of 84. If according to Apollodorus’ version, the death date of Plato is correct then his birth date should lie between 430 or 431 but Diogenes put his birth in 429. Diogenes further said that if Plato was the twenty years old at the time of Socrates murder in 399 then his year of birth should be 427. These years between 429-347 B. C. E is considered to be very appropriate, whereas, Cicero was born on 3rd January 106 BC in Arpinum, as Arpino today. It is a hill town situated 100 kilometres towards south of Rome. This small Italian got Roman citizenhsip in 188 B.  C. and began to speak Latin rather than their language Volscian before they were enfranchised by Romans. The assimilation of nearby Italian communities into Rome laid Cicero’s future as a Roman statesman, orator and writer. Though he had a great mastery over Latin rhetoric and composition but Cicero would never from him heart considered himself as a â€Å"Roman† and he was aware of this fact through out his life. During this period of Roman history, it was considered as cultured to able to speak both the Greek and Latin languages. Like many of his contemporaries, Cicero also got education in Greek rhetoricians, and their most influential teachers of their time was also Greek. His knowledge of Greek language enabled him to translate many of its theological concepts into Latin brining maximum number of common people into the world of Greek philosophical thoughts. He was so inclined towards the study of Greek culture and language that he would be called by the other boys as â€Å"Little Greek boy†, yet it is his obsession with the Greek language that made him tied to the traditional Roman elite. The family of Cicero belonged to the local class of nobles known as domi nobles, but without any tie with the Roman senatorial class. Cicero was only connected to Gaius Marius, the most popular person born in Arpinium. In 80 B. C. , he led the most popular faction during civil war against optimates of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Cicero’s father was a knight who would compensate his personal life by reading books. His mother was Helvia who was a very good housewife. (Clayton Online edition) Plato’s was also fortunate to be born in a noble family of Athens. He was the son of Aristone and his mother’s name was Perictone. He got his nickname from the wrestler’s broad shouldered physique. He was expected to follow the family’s tradition of politicians but when he witnessed that Athens entered into conflict with Sparta during Peloponnesian war, he aliented himself from politics and at the age of twenty, joined the School of Socrates. Socrates main ambition was to seek the truth and further explore on the issues like virtue and pity. He also critcised religious and political institutions but allegations began to be levid against him from all corners as he was charged for corrupting the mind of youths. Plato captured the nerves of the society at large and pened down his earnest views followed by Apology and Crito. When Socrates died, Plato opened his academy in a grove which was considered to be sacred to the demigod Academus, near Athens. The importance of Academy grew when Aristotle became its student. Astronomy, Mathematics, and Philosophy were the subjects taught in the Academy. Few years of his life, Plato spent in travelling gaining more knowledge in the other parts of Mediterranean whereas rest part of his life was spent in Athens until he died in 347 B. C.  Ralph Waldo Emerson, a great American essayist, philosopher, a poet and a leader of Transcendentalist movement of the nineteenth century evoked, Plato is philosophy, and philosophy, Plato, at once the glory and the shame of mankind, since neither Saxon nor Roman have availed to add any idea to his categories. †Ã¢â‚¬â€(Emerson, Spiller, Ferguson Slater Carr 23) Plato understood politics from the angle of justice and democracy. His aim was to give the rulers the main principle of what constituted real politics. For Plato, politics was an application of what metaphysics and ethics considered as true. His ideal world was something which was true, good and therefore virtuous. He gave to the world the best mouth piece of the study of human behavior and his relation with society. His â€Å"Republic† was his ideological stand point whereby he posed number of questions and pondered their answers in the light of various assumptions and dynamics of society. His main question comes from the light of what is good and bad in their world-Why should we be good and why in this cruel world, wicked are more happy and successful? To find out the answer to this question, Plato had to invite the whole community-the Polis. In other words , if you can find out the right direction to form polis which is healthy then the importance to individual happiness is ruled out. For Plato, justice is a base which could only be frutifully gained by bringing about balance in wisdom, courage and temperance. For Plato, even an ideal state can be self desructive. Plato posited the view that even ideal state where all have equal rights could also be destructive and it could be happen in turn by the very basic concept on which democracy stands. Though Republic, the Statesman, the Laws are three main political dialogues of Plato, and they developed their ideologies on the basis of what today is termed as conceptual analysis-in other words clarification of the basic principles on which politics stands and its importance. For Plato, this conceptual analysis was a preliminary stage for further critical evaluation of thought processes. According to Plato, making right decisions on the administration and making right choice between peace and war are the two most crucial initial steps of good politics. Such decisions could not be left into the hands of public only but by good orator. Cicero’s works included fifty speeches, around thousand letters to friends and associates, among them the several of his works included rhetorical theories and twelve out of them are on philosophical topics. These display great intellectual thoughts that deepen Cicero’s conviction that both the philosophy and rhetoric are independent to each other and are very important for human life and society. His works on philosophy stand witness to the rhetorical techniques and style of Roman oratory. The political philosophy of Plato was largely based on speculations about ideal state. Though he did conceptualize his points by imploring upon the city-states of Greece and events in current political scenario, yet his discussions evolved largely around what he and other intellectuals thought to be ideal states. The essence of his ideological state lied in the needs of the man on the individual level and on the whole and these needs of the man joined them together to work for the common goal. The members that make the society could be divided into different classes according to their particular work criteria. As according to Plato, in man, there are two different souls in the same way in the society also, there are three different classes: philosophers, warriors, and producers; one of which belongs to the rational souls and the rest two belong to the irrational souls and each class has its own particular role to fulfill. For e. g. philosophers run the state, warriors defend it and producers cultivate their skills to produce the materialistic goods needed by the state. On the other hand, much of the Cicero’s political thoughts followed Aristotle concept of ideal state. For Cicero, there were three main forms of government; monarchy, aristocracy, and the constitutional state, but he also believed that there is every scope of perversion in each form of government, which emerges from those who do not have regard for the public good. Not one form of government is perfectly good. Instead Cicero prescribed what is known as composite form of government with the principles of monarchy, aristocracy and democracy. This form of government today is known as Common Wealth form of Government and Cicero termed as the Res Publica, literally known as â€Å"The People’s thing. His composite republic is based on the monarchical principle, also known as consuls; the aristocratic is likened to the Senate of Rome, which performs both the legislative and executive functions. The democratic principles are tribunes referred to as committees (comitia) in ancient Rome. Rather than revolutionary or politically visionary, Cicero was being considered more as a â€Å"political conservative† who was eager to preserve the Roman Republic against the designs of Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony, and Octavian whose aim was to make Rome into their own personal empire. But Cicero did not succeed in preventing Roman Republic from collapse and was murdered by the followers of Mark Anthony. (Marcus Cicero, Section 12). Cicero’s law was based on these two: â€Å"That true law was reason, That good is always good, that bad is always bad and in traditional Roman values. † (Simmons Online) He criticized all other form of constitutions for breaching the rights and interests of people and conveyed that political system should provide legal rights to every one equally but give electoral, legislative and judicial rights in accordance to their merit and wealth. Cicero’s first book On the Orator laid importance of Oratory in the politics of Rome. Oratory had been part of the Roman politics, and Cicero mainly superimposed its value. His discussions merely revolved around education basically history and poetry with composition of logic, philosophical theory and rhetorical techniques. As said by Stephen Whites’s, â€Å"Orator, clearly reflects Cicero’s own proficiencies, unites thorough knowledge of history and law with complete command of in a Romanized version of Platos philosopher-rulers†. (White online edition). Both Plato and Cicero wanted education to be based on philosophy to produce best statesman. While Plato’s more emphasis was on training on mathematical ground and transcendental metaphysics, Cicero wanted many practical programs of instructions designed to cultivate articulacy and civic debate. (White Online edition). His On the Republic is his much thought provoking dialects on leadership and politics. It was almost lost but its first third was recovered in 1820. On the Republic is a challenge of Plato’s Greek political theory based on utopian thoughts. He defined republic as â€Å"a peopl’e affair, â€Å"(res populi) and people as a community who have joined in to one consensus on their mutual interest. His other part constitutes his explanation on types of constitutions in classical Greek style and developed the data on the development of Roman institutions; whereas some of the sections which are either lost or preserved in very poor state have in short explanation of Hellenistic debates on the nature and rewards of justice and the discussions on education system of Rome. Yet another of his book On Laws is a sequel to a legal system. Contradicting Plato’s laws, he contended that Rome already had embodied itself much the ideals of law. On Laws truly appeared to be very important in the sense that it contains full account of natural law. Based entirely on Stoic ideas, Cicero contended that the whole concept of law is already a part of nature with an appropriate order, which could be codified in legislation for final tribunal in a court of law. After these writings, civil war erupted and he did not go further into this, but last of his books summed up his thinking on political grounds by bringing out the importance of morality in public life. In his On Duties which was his epistle to his son, he gave the routes to bestow on the proper code of conduct for Roman nobility emphasizing justice, benefaction and public service. His entire focus was on the men of high status and their way of dealing with the problems relating to personal ambitions and social obligations. Cicero too always stood on his profound trust on the noblest trait of human beings, which is their humanity and inculcate reasoning power to improve the lives of human beings. His thoughts on humanism are best skewed in his â€Å"On the Ends of Good and Evil†. The dialogue herein reflects on the question of what and where is the end of all human actions and the way you attain the happiness. Cicero agreed with Aristotle and saw that human beings are political or social animals. â€Å"But nature has given to mankind a compulsion to do good, and a desire to defend the well being of the community . (Cicero Rudd R I. 1). † But the most influential model book was The Republic by Plato. Cicero’s homage to the Republic was found in its expression in the section which was lost but also found its place in his concluding marks of the cosmos and the afterlife (The Dream of Scipio), which reflects the myth of err by the end of the Plato’s end book. Plato has been directly quoted and or reflected several times. Cicero’s Scipio states that, â€Å"Rather than invent a city for themselves as Plato did, he prefers to examine a real historical stance (The Roman Constitution) which comes closet to the ideal†. (Cicero, Rudd, Powell xvi) But it was also mistake to espouse that, because Cicero had departed from Plato in certain way, his Republic is in very deep sense anti-platonic. It is further said that â€Å"Cicerio’s Scipio was enough of a Platonist to regard philosophy and astronomy as wise man’s true occupation, and to declare that one should take political offices only our of sense of duty or necessity, as Plato’s Guardian do. (I-26-29)( Cicero, Rudd, Powell 17) There are many similarities between the Plato’s Republic and Cicero, de ra republic. Each formulated on the account of relationship between citizen and state. Both of them discussed on justice, both of them bestowed theory of constitution. Both of them also had mentioned discussion on education and a vision of an after life. Sharpely too suggested that â€Å"Cicero Republic in the sense, Plato’s turned inside out. † (Cicero Zetzel 14) In the Republic by Plato, Socrates and his friends are trying to implore and analyze on what should be an ideal city but do not want to analyze the state in which he was living. Plato and Cicero were only mouthpieces in an arena of political thoughts in their respective periods whereas in Ciceros De re publica, all the comments whether directly or indirectly emphasized on the organization of the state they ought to be living, which was Roman Republic in the final stages.

Case Study Monsantos Repatriation Program

Case Study Monsantos Repatriation Program Monsanto is a global provider of agricultural products with revenues in excess of $4 billion and 10,000 employees. At any one time, the company will have 100 mid and higher-level managers on extended postings abroad. Two thirds of these are Americans who are being posted overseas, while the remainder are foreign nationals being employed in the United States. At Monsanto, managing expatriates and their repatriation begins with a rigorous selection process and intensive cross-cultural training, both for the managers and for their families. As at many other global companies, the idea is to build an internationally minded cadre of highly capable managers who will lead the organization in the future. One of the strongest features of this program is that employees and their sending and receiving managers, or sponsors, develop an agreement about how this assignment will fit into the firms business objectives. The focus is on why employees are going abroad to do the job, and what their contribution to Monsanto will be when they return. Sponsoring managers are expected to be explicit about the kind of job opportunities the expatriates will have once they return home. Once they arrive back in their home country, expatriate managers meet with cross-cultural trainers during debriefing sessions. They are also given the opportunity to showcase their experiences to their peers, subordinates, and superiors in special information exchanges. However Monsantos repatriation program focuses on more than just business; it also attends to the familys reentry. Monsanto has found that difficulties with repatriation often have more to do with personal and family-related issues than with work-related issues. But the personal matters obviously affect an employees on-the-job performance, so it is important for the company to pay attention to such issues. This is why Monsanto offers returning employees an opportunity to work through personal difficulties. About three months after they return home, expatriates meet for three hours at work with several colleagues of their choice. The debriefing session is a conversation aided by a trained facilitator who has an outline to help the expatriate cover all the important aspects of the repatriation. The debriefing allows the employee to share important experiences and to enlighten managers, colleagues and friends about his or her expertise so others within the organization can use some of the global knowledge. According to one participant, It sounds silly, but its such a hectic time in the familys life , you dont have time to sit down and take stock of whats happening. Youre going through the move, transitioning to a new job, a new house, the children may be going to a new school. This is a kind of oasis; a time to talk and put your feelings on the table. Apparently, it works; since the progr am was introduced in the early 1990s, the attrition rate among returning expatriates has dropped sharply. Questions: a. Why does Monsanto need to recruit expatriates for their US Operations? b. Why How does the repatriation programme of Monsanto is helping reduce attrition rates? a. Why does Monsanto need to recruit expatriates for their US Operations? INTRODUCTION The world economy is moving away from the traditional economic system, where national markets were considered as distinct entities which were isolated from each other by trade barriers, barriers of distance, time and culture towards a modern economic system, where the national markets are merging into one huge global market. In many industries it is no longer meaningful to talk about the American market, the German Market or the Japanese market. Therefore, as the development in the international business environment are forcing companies to think of the world as one vast market, the companies are being forced to set up their manufacturing and marketing facilities in different foreign countries in order to do business globally. Ford Motors, for instance, has production plants in 38 countries and sales outlets in over 200 countries (Ford 1997 Annual report, www.ford.com). In this regard, there are in todays world a still increasing number of people, who are sent by companies on forei gn assignments for a longer or shorter period of time and it is those people that we in this paper will refer to as expatriates Expatriates play a key role in the globalization of many companies. The parent company often depends on expatriates to transmit the core values to employees in the overseas location besides of course putting in place systems and processes. In short, expatriates assume a significant responsibility for culture building. Black and Gregersen, have given an excellent account of the issues involved in the management of expatriates. Most companies struggle with their expatriate programmes. Some expatriates return early because of job dissatisfaction; others fail to live upto expectations and a few leave after completing an overseas assignment to join competitors. Successful companies seem to follow three practices religiously. While managing international assignments, they focus on knowledge creation and global leadership development. Other considerations are given less importance. While assigning people for overseas postings, they look for people whose technical skills are matched or exceeded by their cross cultural abilities. Finally, companies with a successful expatriate programme know how to end an assignment and put the experience of the executives to good use, when they return after an overseas stint. Global companies after selecting the candidates place them on the jobs in various countries, including the home country of the employees. But, the employees of the global companies are also placed in foreign countries. Even those employees who are placed initially in their home countries are sometimes transferred to various foreign countries. Thus, the employees of global companies mostly work and live in foreign countries and their family members also live in foreign countries. Employees and their family members working and/or living in foreign countries, are called expatriates in the foreign country. Expatriates are those living or working in a foreign country. The parent country nationals working in foreign subsidiary and third country nationals are expatriates. Large no of expatriates normally have adjustment problems with the working culture of the company, countrys culture, laws, etc. some expatriates adjust themselves easily, while some others face severe problems of adjusting. Such employees about their assignments and return to home country by terminating their work contracts. Thus, the major problem with expatriates is adjustment in the new international environment. Expatriate is a person who leaves his country to work and live in a foreign country. Generally, expatriates are the nationals from the other countries than the host and the MNCs parent country, i.e. expatriates are the third country nationals. The unavailability of the required skills and talents takes the organisation to source talent from other countries. The procedures and processes of recruiting and selecting the human resources are never uniform even within a single organisation. The procedures vary according to the post, the skill set required, the nature of work etc. More of it is seen in the case of recruitment of expatriates. The recruitment and selection procedures and considerations are drastically different for expatriates than that of the domestic employees. Recruitment of expatriates involves greater time, monetary resources and other indirect costs. Improper recruitment and selection can cause the expatriates to return hastily or a decline in their performance. A mismatch between job (its requirements) and people can reduce the effectiveness of other human resource activities and can affect the performance of the employees as well as the organisation. Recruiting expatriates require special considerations and skills to select the best person for the job. Except for a few expatriate selection policies, the expatriate selection criterion is generally organisation and nation specific. The recruiters for recruiting the expatriates should be carefully selected and trained. The recruitment strategies for expatriates should be aligned with requirements of the job. The interviews of expatriates are designed in a manner to judge their: Adaptability to the new culture Intercultural interaction Flexibility Professional expertise Past international work experience Tolerance and open-mindedness Family situation Language ability Attitude and motivation Empathy towards local culture A few researches in this field also suggest that women are morale likely to be successful in certain positions as expatriates as they are more sensitive towards new culture and people. Recruitment of expatriates should be followed by cultural and sensitivity training, and language training. Allegiance to parent firm Low Free agents Natives High Hearts at home Dual citizens Low High Allegiance to local operation Monsanto, the US chemicals manufacturer, starts work on suitable assignments for returning expatriates well in advance. The company not only arranges for debriefing on their return, but also identifies suitable jobs based on the expatriates skills and organizational needs. To sum up, the challenge for global companies is to develop a cadre of expatriates who will function as dual citizens, with a balanced allegiance to the headquarters and the country subsidiary. Creating such a cadre would involve careful selection processes, cross cultural training before and after overseas assignments, well planned career systems that lead to clearly defined job expectations and well conceived repatriation programmes. NEED OF EXPATRIATES FOR MONSANTO Expatriate is a person who leaves his country to work and live in a foreign country. Generally, expatriates are the nationals from the other countries than the host and the MNCs parent country, i.e. expatriates are the third country nationals. From the HR-literature we know that expatriates are divided into three types: PCNs (Parent Country Nationals); HCNs (Host Country Nationals); and TCNs (Third Country Nationals)., we will focus on the different roles of these expatriates by point of departure in the following four general approaches to international staffing: Ethnocentric Approach: Because of a lack of qualified HCNs, PCNs occupy all key positions in the foreign operation, which means that the subsidiary is highly dependent on the headquarters decisions. Some drawbacks from this approach could be limited promotion opportunities for HCNs, income gaps between PCNs and HCNs, and that PCNs cannot be involved in local matters. Polycentric Approach: In this approach HCNs occupy positions in the foreign subsidiary. Some transfers of HCNs to headquarters also take place. The approach eliminates the language barriers, and typically HCNs are less expensive. Some drawbacks from this approach could be communication problems between headquarter and subsidiary and limited career opportunities for HCNs as they cannot be promoted to headquarter. Geocentric Approach: In this approach the best people are selected for key positions regardless of their nationality. Nationality is not taken into account and a worldwide integration of employees takes place. In this approach an international team of managers is developed. Some drawbacks from this approach may be related to situations, where host governments prefer employment of locals because of i.e. labor issues. Regiocentric Approach: Here a companys international business is divided into international geographic regions (i.e. the European Union). The staff can only transfer within these regions. MONSANTO needs expatriates because of the following reasons:- Expatriates first enter the picture when corporations have strong incentives to internalize activities. Typical, enterprises will engage in the type of internalization most suitable for the factor combination, market situations and government policies which they face: When it is more profitable for this company to exploit its ownership advantages in another country itself rather than to sell or license them. When a firm desires to extinguish bilateral monopoly because of market imperfections: that is, when some markets incurs lower cost through hierarchical co-ordination (FDI) than through co-ordination by market prices then the need to use expatriates becomes evident. When an enterprise has location and ownership specific resource endowments and finds the need to internalize these because of market imperfections then the expatriate is born. The expatriate will likely be used to take out the imperfections of the market by being the liaison for the organization to that market. Having a manger that knows and understands headquarters desires and wants is therefore of great importance when investing and operation in foreign markets. Securing transfer of technology/filling positions, as companies send the expatriates abroad in order to transfer their technology to the foreign subsidiary. I.e. in countries where qualified people are not available, companies send the PCNs to fill out the positions. This is mostly used by multinational and international firms. Securing the headquarter control, where the companies can exercise this control by using the PCNs in their foreign subsidiaries. In such situations firms try to incorporate the headquarters culture into the foreign operations, which in some cases may create cultural problems. Especially MNCs tend to demand administrative and financial control in their foreign operations. Opportunity for international experience/ management development, as several firms find international experience highly important before promoting their employees. Foreign transfers are here important in order to learn foreign cultures and environments. In such situations qualified HCNs are available but managers are still transferred to foreign subsidiaries to acquire knowledge and skills. Securing organizational development, which also is called the Geocentric approach. This role is performed only by the best people at the best places without nationality barriers. Transfers can take place from headquarter to subsidiary, from subsidiary to headquarter, or from subsidiary to subsidiary. Nationality of employees does not matter in this situation, as the objective of this staffing strategy is to get to know about different cultures, create international networks, decentralization, and interaction between managers of different nationalities. In general, this strategy is mostly followed by larger global companies. Expatriates are responsible for transferring new technologies and penetrating new markets in foreign subsidiaries. Organizations opening a new production facility or branches in a foreign country will send an expatriate to facilitate entry into the new markets. PCNs are commonly sent out to initiate operations in fresh markets in countries with no qualified people to carry out the firms mandate. These PCNs render their expertise in the vital global market within the new markets. Mostly, a firm will send a team of expatriates to work together effectively and penetrate the new market. Companies may want to exercise control over foreign subsidiaries by integrating the headquarters culture in foreign operations. This might be achieved by sending PCNs who have been with the company for some time. These expatriates have to promote a variety of inter-organizational skills and interpersonal skills, commonly used in the headquarters, to different employees in the subsidiaries. Most organizations with operations in foreign countries are quite successful and use expatriates to oversee financial and administrative functions. Expatriates have the opportunity to learn the foreign environment and culture during foreign assignments. This international experience and expansive knowledge gained by expatriates can be used to develop products that suit a specific culture, ensuring the firm remains competitive in the global market. The PCNs may be sent to foreign subsidiaries before they are promoted, so that they can learn the skills and knowledge to operate within a diverse environment. This foreign exposure helps expatriates develop international management competencies. Expatriates are sent to foreign countries where they can locate valuable resources and expertise, learn best practices and transfer all these assets to the company operations in the host country. Expatriates may gain expertise from different cultures, providing the company with learning opportunity from a diverse staff. Expatriates help the organization in forming international networks, creating a global market for products. They also promote decentralization of the organization by taking control of the various foreign operations. b. Why How does the repatriation programme of Monsanto is helping reduce attrition rates? INTRODUCTION A largely overlooked but critically important issue in the training and development of expatriate managers is to prepare them for reentry into their home-country organization. Repatriation should be seen as the final link in an integrated, circular process that connects good selection and cross-cultural training of expatriate managers with completion of their term abroad and reintegration into their national organization. However, instead of having employees come home to share their knowledge and encourage other high-performing managers to take the same international career track, expatriates too often face a different scenario. Often when they return home after a stint abroad-where they have typically been autonomous, well-compensated, and celebrated as a big fish in a little pond-they face an organization that doesnt know what they have done for the last few years, doesnt know how to use their new knowledge, and doesnt particularly care. In the worst cases, reentering employees have to scrounge for jobs, or firms will create standby positions that dont use the expatriates skills and capabilities and fail to make the most of the business investment the firm has made in that individual. Research illustrates the extent of this problem. According to one study of repatriated employees, 60 to 70 percent didnt know what their position would be when they returned home. Also, 60 percent said their organizations were vague about repatriation, about their new roles, and about their future career progression within the company; 77 percent of those surveyed took jobs at a lower level in their home organization than in their international assignments. Not surprising, 15 percent of returning expatriates leave their firms within a year of arriving home, and 40 percent leave within three years. The key to solving this problem is good human resource planning. Just as the HRM function needs to develop good selection and training programs for its expatriates, it also needs to develop good programs for reintegrating expatriates back into work life within their home-country organization, for preparing them for changes in their physical and professional landscape, and for utilizing the knowledge they acquired while abroad. MEANING OF REPATRIATION Repatriation, or re-entry, is the transition from a foreign country back to ones own after working overseas for a significant period of time. According to Black, Gregersen, and Mendenhall (1999) this last stage of the expatriation process has been neglected to some extent since the process of relocation to the home country and home organization has been assumed to be a simple matter for expatriates. However, repatriation problems are complex both for the company and the expatriate because they involve the challenges of personal re-entry and professional re-entry at the same time (Linehan and Scullion, 2002). Hodgetts and Luthans (2001), claim that for most expatriates, the return to the home country occurs within five years after leaving the home country. Furthermore, Dowling, et al. (1994) suggests that the repatriation process consists of different phases in which the expatriate and the company face different roles. The authors describe the repatriation process in four related phas es. These are a) preparation, b) physical relocation, c) transition, and d) readjustment. The first stage, preparation, involves the development of plans for the future both for the company and the expatriate. In this stage the expatriate can gather information about the new position that will be offered in the home organization. Preparation is followed by physical relocation of the expatriate. This stage refers to removing personal effects; breaking ties with colleagues, and traveling to the country where the home organization is located. In this stage the company can offer comprehensive and personalized relocation assistance to reduce the amount of anxiety the repatriate may feel. Transition, the third step in the repatriation process, is the settling into temporary accommodations as well as making arrangements for administrative tasks. This makes the process of re-entry to the home organization smoother. Readjustment, the last step, involves coping with reverse culture shock and career demands that are followed by the re-entry. (Ibid) According to Paik, et al. (2002), the process of an expatriates re-entry to the home organization is a complex interaction of several job-related factors, socio- cultural factors and family factors. The job-related factors primarily address the relationship between the expatriate and the home office and issues related to the repatriates career progression after returning to the home country. Many repatriates return to an organization that does not know what they have accomplished overseas and how to use the repatriates experience appropriately. The socio-cultural factors are related to the repatriates ability to adjust and reintegrate into the home country culture. Sufficient cross-cultural preparation is needed to prepare the expatriate for working in another culture as well as for preparing the expatriate for working in the home organization upon return. Finally, the family factors address the impact of reintegration on the spouse and children. The cultural shock that the family ma y experience can affect the repatriates ability to resume their responsibilities at the home office. One of the key transitional activities is to involve targeted communication concerning the expectation of the home office towards the return of the repatriate and his or her family. (Ibid) Suutari and Brewster, (2003) claim that for the employee, career progression is often the reason to accept an assignment abroad. As a consequence the re-entry position is frequently linked with whether the new position matches the repatriates career expectations. Although international assignments are seen as a key tool for developing international managers the positive connection between an expatriation assignment and career development has been questioned. The authors further state that there is a gloomy picture with organizations losing a lot of talented and experienced international staff at or shortly after repatriation. The fall-out rate is often a result of dissatisfaction among repatriates whose careers are blighted by their negative experience and who have to rebuild their careers elsewhere. (Ibid) However, according to Linehan and Scullion (2002) the costs of losing repatriates are significant because they are valuable and expensive human resources who are capable of understanding the workings of both corporate headquarters and overseas operations; in addition they are responsible for critical co-ordination and control functions. MEANING OF REPATRITION PROGRAMME Black, et al, stress the importance of having a well-defined repatriation program in order to accomplish successful repatriation and to conquer the problems companies and employees face. However, Dowling, et al (1999) present a study by Harvey that state that only 31 percent of U.S companies have a program for repatriation. The three most frequent mentioned reasons for not having a program was a lack of knowledge about how to develop a program, the costs of training repatriates, and no perceived need by top management of having a program. (Ibid) Yongsun (2002), claims that in order for organizations to fully exploit the knowledge and skills of returning expatriates it is critical for the company to manage the repatriation process. Different theories and approaches of how a repatriation program can be developed exist in the literature. (Ibid) According to Jassawalla, et al (2004), a retrofit program at the end of the expatriates assignment makes poor repatriation. Vermond (2001) sugge sts that the repatriation process should start as early as possible in an expatriates assignment, and should be continued after the expatriates return to the home country. The repatriation program as an ongoing process, have developed a theoretical model of how an effective repatriation program can look like. In this model the authors have divided the repatriation process in three stages. This model identifies the key action steps taken prior to departure, during the assignment, and after the repatriates return that appear to determine the organizational and individual outcomes. (ibid) However, the outcomes of these actions will not be discussed as mentioned in the delimitations in chapter one. As previously mentioned, companies and expatriates face different problems in the repatriation process. These problems affect the stages in the repatriation program developed differently. Therefore some problems are mentioned in several stages in order to justify different actions that can be taken in order to conquer the problems that either the company or the expatriate/repatriate face. Repatriation Program Prior to the expatriates departure During the expatriates stay After the expatriates return Choosing new assignments in the home office -Quality of interaction with sponsors The sponsor has a stake in the repatriates personal long-term career. The duties of a sponsor include searching for positions that may suit the repatriate and try to ensure that the repatriates skills will be used upon return. Using the procedures designed to reorient the repatriate to the home office Task clarity Expectations on the expatriate The deadlines of the task How the performance will be evaluated -Career counselling The reasons for sending the manager overseas The benefits of the overseas assignment for the firm and the manager The managers career options upon return Formal policies for repatriation Repatriation policies should include actions to be taken during the pre-visit, visit and post visit. -Perception of support while on assignment Related to issues included in the relocation package such as financial compensation, support to the spouse and children to aid in their adjustment to the foreign environment. Nature and frequency of communication This factor is related to the frequency of communication between the home office and the expatriate while he or she is abroad. Who is responsible for the contact and how the contact is maintained are considered. -Perceptions of support upon return Receiving credit and recognition for the foreign assignment Utilizing their new perspectives in their new job Adjusting to the differences in job related factors of their new job compared to the foreign assignment Although a lengthy discussion of underlying reasons for expatriate failure is unfortunately out of scope for this article, it can be argued that companies benefit from managing this repatriation process in order to exploit the knowledge and skills of returning expatriates. (3) High attrition rates have been found to be primarily related to organizations difficulties to effectively reposition their repatriated employees. This observation is a strong argument to stress repatriation management in HR departments. (4) Organizations may experience difficulties in finding candidates for expatriate positions when potential candidates see what will happen to expatriates once they return. (5) Ogberg, who coined the term culture shock in 1960, also considered a reverse culture shock that expatriates experience when returning home. Proper preparation for this future shock may prepare expatriates for the transition to domestic work and family settings. (5) Research in 2005 showed that repatriatio n adjustment was the strongest predictor of intent to leave the organization (Lee Liu, 2005). Retention and career management, therefore, should be central to planning expatriate positions. Positions should be gradually more challenging in order to challenge valuable employees and be part of a long term career path. Long term career planning foresees in building on previous assignments; assigning repatriates unchallenging positions once back home may be regarded as an invitation to apply for positions elsewhere. Sound expatriate management will therefore consider repatriation arrangements as good practice. In reality, however, organizations often seem to have forgotten who these expatriates are. HR departments fail to build on expatriates skills and experience because they do not know well what they have accomplished during the years. Expatriates experience frustration once their expatriate benefits and status will be lost upon repatriation. They will have to get used to normal levels of pay and taxation again. Their children will have to attend national curriculum schools, private school tuition fees will not be covered upon return to the home country. Establishing a mutual understanding and a clear definition of successful repatriation could help repatriates establish correct expectations before returning home. A proper preparation towards the end of expatriate assignments may ease the transition and avoid costly turnover for the organization. An ongoing lack of attention to repatriation management will likely continue to fuel high attrition rates. Avoiding Reverse Culture Shock While we often think of culture shock as a factor during a familys arrival to a new country, dont underestimate the role that reverse culture shock can play when the assignment ends. After a period of time spent away from their home culture, family members may have trouble readjusting to the formerly familiar environment. This culture shock can affect any member of the family, but children are known to have the most difficulty readjusting. For example, friends and loved ones while they may have stayed in touch during the time away will have moved on to new interests and p

History of Ian Fleming Essay -- Ian Fleming James Bond Essays

History of Ian Fleming Ian Fleming not just created the character of James Bond; he personified him by living an exciting life. With his suave style and long history of lavished background he was almost born into the part of his later creation. Ian Fleming was born on May 8th, 1908 to his father, Valentine Fleming, and his mother, Beatrice Fleming (Lycett 12). He was the grandson of the famous Scottish banking pioneer, Robert Fleming (Rosenberg 5). Ian also had three brothers named Peter, Richard, and Michael. He hated his brother Peter during most of his childhood. This was due to his brother being very successful in academics and got his fathers attention. Fist fights usually broke out between the two of them (Lycett 15). He loved his mother, but he was always rebelling against her because, he didn't like the thought of her controlling his life (Lycett 28). Ian's father did seem more like a teacher than a father him. He always encouraged Ian to take part in sports such as track. The father even taught him golf (Rosenberg 8). Since his father and his brother were very successful, Ian felt a desire to become successful himself. Ian attended Eton High School and joined the track team there and became and outstanding athlete (Cork 1). But, his stay at Eton was short lived due to some trouble he was in that involved women and a motor vehicle accident (Rosenberg 20). Apparently, Fleming stole his father's vehicle and went to a party where he drank a lot and met women that he later invited to ride with him. One of the women distracted Fleming and he ran into a tree (Lycett 31). During the expulsion of high school, Ian's father died in World War 1 during a battle in France on Sunday 20 May 1917 (. All the inherited money went to Ian's mother. With the stipulation that she would remarry, Ian was pressured into getting money of his own. The widowed mother put him in another school called Tennerhof High School. It was there that he started to gain girlfriends and have an expensive taste of food and automobiles. People who went to Tennerhof with Ian remembered him as being very arrogant and difficult. There were other's that swear he was found to be charming, handsome, witty, and a lively aristocrat. But, Ian was having problems academically. Ian's mother knew a married couple that could help Ian. So he would visit them one day a week... ...n making the book into a movie. They approached Ian with a proposition to make "Dr. No" into a movie. If the movie did well they would produce other "Bond" movies. During the negotiations and production of "Dr. No" Ian completed "Goldfinger", "For Your Eyes Only", "Octa*censored*", and "The Spy Who Loved Me". The movie, "Dr. No" was a huge hit and Ian had the feeling that he finally reached the success that he hoped to achieve over his father and brother. Other movies were made while Ian Fleming continued to write. That is until 1964 when Ian Fleming died of a fatal heart attack while at Royal St. Georges Golf Club. Ian Fleming was a man of many visions, and talents. It wasn't until after his death that James Bond was a British, sexual, and heroic icon. A total of 20 "Bond Films" have been made so far. Even more James Bond books have been written. Ian Fleming will live on with infamy and legend. Work Cited Bruce A. Rosenberg "Ian Fleming". Boston: United Publishing, 1981 Andrew Lycett "Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond" Kansas City: Universal Press, 1995 John Cork "The Life of Ian Fleming (1908-1964)" http://www.mcs.net/idust/www/flem-bio.html