Dilma Rousseff: Big Shoes Too

Dilma Rousseff became the first female president of Brazil in October 2010.  As successor to the popular and charismatic Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, she had big shoes to fill. It can now be safely said that although their styles

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The Queen of Jordan: More Than an Ornament

Born in 1970 in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, Rania, wife of King Abdullah II has been his Queen since 1999. Her concerns at home include environmental matters, health, education, youth and human rights.  She looks to ‘Righting the wrongs of

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Arab Countries In Transition: Where are they Heading?

By Masood Ahmed Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department “You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.­” — Egyptian Nobel Prize–winning author

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Pinpointing the Value in CSR

By Thomas Lys, James Naughton and Clare Wang The Unexpected Link between CSR Spending and Financial Performance Proponents of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives tend to justify their position by arguing that these expenditures improve a company’s economic performance―allowing it

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PM Shinawatra: Power through the Democratic Process

PM Yingluck Shinawatra easily survived a vote of no confidence in the Thai House of Representatives on November 28th this year. Polls also show her as having the confidence of the electorate as she ponders her first eighteen months in

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Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad says: “Face up to the New Economic Reality”

Dr Mohamad, an active man despite his 86 years, tends to lecture Europe on money matters. As a national developer of proven ability and great success we are inclined to at least listen. Our Hero from Malaysia has certainly done

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Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: A Role Model in Africa

CFI.co strongly supports this sentiment from the Nobel committee in their announcement that Sirleaf would share the Peace Prize for 2011 in recognition of her non-violent struggle for women’s safety and full participation in peace-building. We consider her an exemplary

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Gro Harlem Brudtland: Doctor, Politician and Our Hero

Born in 1939 to an Oslo family in which politics and medicine were part and parcel of daily life, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, has been Director General of the World Health Organisation for the past fourteen years. Prime minister of

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Financial Stability in the European Union: IMF Assessment

In its first ever European Union-wide assessment of the soundness and stability of the financial sector, the International Monetary Fund this month pointed to the need to step up regional efforts to manage financial crises and risks to keep the

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Michelle Bachelet and the Right of a Woman to Decide

When Chile’s government was ousted by Augusto Pinochet in 1973, Michelle Bachelet’s father (a supporter of the deposed Salvador Allende) was arrested, tortured in prison and died in custody at the age of 51. Security forces later arrested Bachelet herself,

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