One of the trickiest foreign policy issues that Barack Obama will face after the inauguration is what to do about aid to the developing world. Many Americans are convinced that the US has been overly generous in carrying the lion’s share of the burden, but at least on a per capita basis the facts indicate otherwise. The US does provide just over $22 billion dollars in official development aid—roughly a fourth of the total amount of world development aid—but if you look at America’s contribution in proportion to America’s wealth, it ranks near the bottom of the heap. “In dollar terms, the US is still the largest donor,” says Robert Glasser, Secretary General of CARE International, “but that is because it has the largest economy.” Moreover, in the Center for Global Development’s latest index on actual commitment to development, the US ranked 17 out of 22 countries-- just behind France, and barely ahead of Switzerland.
To All Year 13/Graduating Students with Special Parents Evening in the Geneva Region:
On Saturday February 14th, 2009 (9:30-16:30) and or February 16. La Chât will be hosting an exciting, one-day “Transition/Re-entry Seminar” for all graduating students which will give them the cultural competency needed for transition to college/university, whether they are returning to their “home” countries or moving to yet another country. It is being offered by Tina Quick (former ISG parent) of International Family Transitions, a consultancy devoted to meeting the needs of internationally mobile families.
As an Israeli citizen, Oxford professor of international relations Avi Shlaim served in the Israeli army and has never questioned the legitimacy of his country. But its merciless assault on Gaza has led him to devastating conclusions. Published by The Guardianon Wednesday 7 January 2009, this is a piece well worth reading. And it is one that the Israeli government in particular should read if it is understand the long-term harm that it is perpetuating in the region without helping to resolve the real issues at hand.
Both the Swiss Canton of Vaud police and the French gendarmerie are cracking down hard over the holidays on motorists who have been drinking and still insist on driving. The Geneva cantonal police have not been so forthright in their anti-alcohol campaign but will still be "vigilant." The limit in both countries is 0.5 per mille, the same as most other European states, which is the rough equivalent of one glass of wine. However, this depends on individual bodyweight and metabolism. The fact is, you may be over the limit without realizing it; a good meal cooked with alcohol, even if supposedly “cooked off,” can raise your alcohol count, or maybe your “I only had a glass of wine” might in fact be two, three or more.
So why take the risk, particularly given that a lowering of the tolerance level in recent years has significantly reduced (18% in Switzerland) the number of accidents and deaths?
In the aftermath of the 26/11 assaults against hotels, restaurants and other facilities in the Indian port city of Mumbai, journalist Rupa Chinai explores what our responses should be to such terror in this second letter from the subcontinent to the first published December 1, 2008 on The Essential Edge. Does it really resolve matters by executing the sole surviving on-the-ground perpetrator? Or should we, as individuals, seek elsewhere for those really responsible, regardless who they are and where they are, and to confront the real issues at hand which politicians or security services are unwilling or unable to do? Does the land of Gandhi have nothing new to offer the world in the way of new ideas and initiatives for resolving violence?
The Montreux Jazz Café in the arrival hall of Geneva’s international airport seems like a pretty cool idea.Open a chic café designed to highlight the Montreux JazzFestival, and while customers sip that extravagantly priced cappuccino, waiting for the arrival of the routinely delayed Air France flight from Paris, they can watch a video of the jazz performance that they missed while stalled on the Montreux exit of the autoroute last year. The question of quality, as William Dowell, one of our Essential Edge editors discovered to his acoustic dismay, is is a much different matter.
The last French-speaking village before entering the more pristine and ostentatious environs of Swiss-German and jetsetting Gstaad, Rougemont is pleasantly situated at the edge of the Canton of Vaud’s prealp Pays d’Enhaut region. Often serving more as a transit route for those heading up to the Bernese Oberland, this is a somewhat removed area of high mountain pastures, forests and rocky promontories ideal for hiking, climbing and wildlife watching (chamois, Ibex, troyal eagles…), and, in the winter, family skiing. Of course, the largest of the Pays d’Enhaut’s three communes, Château-d’Oex further down the road toward Gruyere, is better known as the world’s balloon capital. Essential Edge contributor Jeffrey Carmel decided to explore one of the ‘up there’ region’s best kept culinary secrets, the Comptoir d’Enhaut, a café-restaurant located in a mid-19th chalet that once belonged to one of Switzerland’s oldest priories and whose church in Rougemont village still exists, dating back to the 11th century.
Ever since December 12, 2008, the land borders between Switzerland and the European Schengen Area countries – in the case of the Lake Geneva and Southern Alps region, France and Italy – have no more controls. Well, sort of…The security checks at Cointrin’s Geneva International will remain enforced – at least until the end of March, 2009 - as the Swiss-French airport will serve as one of Schengen’s main air traffic entry points from the outside. For the land crossings, however, Swiss and other nationals with valid passports, ID’s, residence permits and Swiss or Schengen visas should not have to show their documents. In practise, however, it is another matter.
To All Year 13/Graduating Students with Special Parents Evening in the Geneva Region:
On Saturday February 14th, 2009 (9:30-16:30) and or February 16. La Chât will be hosting an exciting, one-day “Transition/Re-entry Seminar” for all graduating students which will give them the cultural competency needed for transition to college/university, whether they are returning to their “home” countries or moving to yet another country. It is being offered by Tina Quick (former ISG parent) of International Family Transitions, a consultancy devoted to meeting the needs of internationally mobile families.
As an Israeli citizen, Oxford professor of international relations Avi Shlaim served in the Israeli army and has never questioned the legitimacy of his country. But its merciless assault on Gaza has led him to devastating conclusions. Published by 
Both the Swiss Canton of Vaud police and the French gendarmerie are cracking down hard over the holidays on motorists who have been drinking and still insist on driving. The Geneva cantonal police have not been so forthright in their anti-alcohol campaign but will still be "vigilant." The limit in both countries is 0.5 per mille, the same as most other European states, which is the rough equivalent of one glass of wine. However, this depends on individual bodyweight and metabolism. The fact is, you may be over the limit without realizing it; a good meal cooked with alcohol, even if supposedly “cooked off,” can raise your alcohol count, or maybe your “I only had a glass of wine” might in fact be two, three or more.
So why take the risk, particularly given that a lowering of the tolerance level in recent years has significantly reduced (18% in Switzerland) the number of accidents and deaths?
In the aftermath of the 26/11 assaults against hotels, restaurants and other facilities in the Indian port city of Mumbai, journalist Rupa Chinai explores what our responses should be to such terror in this second letter from the subcontinent to the 
The last French-speaking village before entering the more pristine and ostentatious environs of Swiss-German and jetsetting Gstaad, Rougemont is pleasantly situated at the edge of the Canton of Vaud’s prealp Pays d’Enhaut region. Often serving more as a transit route for those heading up to the Bernese Oberland, this is a somewhat removed area of high mountain pastures, forests and rocky promontories ideal for hiking, climbing and wildlife watching (chamois, Ibex, troyal eagles…), and, in the winter, family skiing. Of course, the largest of the Pays d’Enhaut’s three communes, Château-d’Oex further down the road toward Gruyere, is better known as the world’s balloon capital. Essential Edge contributor Jeffrey Carmel decided to explore one of the ‘up there’ region’s best kept culinary secrets, the Comptoir d’Enhaut, a café-restaurant located in a mid-19th chalet that once belonged to one of Switzerland’s oldest priories and whose church in Rougemont village still exists, dating back to the 11th century.
Ever since December 12, 2008, the land borders between Switzerland and the European Schengen Area countries – in the case of the Lake Geneva and Southern Alps region, France and Italy – have no more controls. Well, sort of…The security checks at Cointrin’s Geneva International will remain enforced – at least until the end of March, 2009 - as the Swiss-French airport will serve as one of Schengen’s main air traffic entry points from the outside. For the land crossings, however, Swiss and other nationals with valid passports, ID’s, residence permits and Swiss or Schengen visas should not have to show their documents. In practise, however, it is another matter.
