economic conditions

Chronicles the history of Europe since World War II, focusing on attempts to unify the continent's many nationalities and ideologies, with discussion of Cold War politics, the influence of the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and other topics.

An overview of Southeast Asia's economic development that provides profiles of eleven nation states; articles on history and context, issues, and relations with the wider world; and such reference tools as a chronology, biographies, and short profiles of ethnic groups and political institutions.

Author Barbara Ehrenreich relates her experiences from 1998 to 2000, during which time joined the ranks of the working poor as a waitress, hotel housekeeper, cleaning woman, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart clerk to see for herself how America's "unskilled" workers are able to survive on only $6 or $7 an hour.

Argues that The People's Republic of China is collapsing and explains how the country's collapse would affect the world economy.

Reprints twenty-four articles, book excerpts, speeches, and studies that examine issues related to life in modern-day Cuba, providing an overview of the state of the revolution, and discussing the development of the economy through the 1990s, U.S.-Cuba relations, and Cuban intellectual, cultural, and social life.

Provides an overview of India's development since the country achieved independence in 1947, discussing a wide range of economic, political, social, and trade topics.

Contains over twenty essays that present opposing viewpoints on issues relating to Africa, discussing economic development strategies, conflict resolution, human rights, and wildlife management.

Explores the problems and challenges France will be facing in the twenty-first century and explains why there are so many contradictory aspects of the country.

Covers the current situation in China including an exploration of China's geography, a look at its economy, a discussion of its internal problems like population growth, and a description of China's interaction with the outside world.