In virtually all advanced industrialized countries, the explosive topic of immigration has engendered heated argument, political anger, cultural anxieties, and blatant racism. In the United States, most of the attention is on the stream of Mexicans crossing the border in such numbers that early in the next century Latinos--immigrant and U.S.-born--are expected to surpass African Americans as the largest minority group. This book focuses on key aspects of the problem, including the puzzling differences between Mexcio-born adolescents and adolescents born in the United States. Whereas Mexico-born adolescents are highly motivated to learn English and use the educational system to improve their lot, U.S.-born adolescents seem angry, frustrated, and less interested in academic achievement. What accounts for this difference? In a unique research design, the authors seek answers in a psychological and cultural study of four groups of adolescents: a group in a Mexican town with a high rate of migration; a group that had migrated to the United States with their families, a group of second-generation Latinos; and a group of white ethnographic observations, the authors pursue such questions as: How is achievement motivation patterned Mexican family life? How do the concerns of white American adolescents differ from those of the other groups? What happens to immigrant families as children shift cultural values in the new country? Among the many significant conclusion to emerge from this study is that whereas Mexicans see their achievements in the context of family obligations, white adolescents struggle with issues of independence and ambivalence toward authority, and U.S.-born Latinos--hybrid children of two worlds--share concerns with both white and Mexico-born peers.

The deepening of China’s engagement with Africa has also prompted the broadening of its interests on the continent. This has resulted in China’s expansion into increasingly riskier territories, which means there is a greater urgency to protect its interests from the political vagaries endemic to conflict-affected African states. This evolution marks a shift away from traditional perceptions of Chinese engagement in Africa as being limited to its economic interests, towards one where China becomes a politically interested and invested actor. This trend is paralleled by a macro-level reorientation of China’s foreign policy goals, where it envisions itself playing a stronger norm-setting role in the global arena. This policy insights paper explores the values and imperatives that motivate China’s engagement in peace and security, human rights and human security in Africa.

China is no exception to the global rise of developing media, who are challenging dominant traditional players. China's state-owned media are increasing their influence in the world as an instrument of its grander soft power engagement. The paper seeks to understand this new trend, particularly in the case of Africa. It traces China's media engagement on the continent, explains how strategies have changed in the 2000s and seeks to understand some of the challenges of transferring a global strategy to Africa.

The demands of public diplomacy have shifted with the development of social media technologies. Increasingly, governments are required to gauge and respond to public sentiment over and above the one-way communication of broadcast media. The social media and accompanying elevated public role have complicated the decision-making process in China to the extent of potentially influencing its outward engagements. On the receiving end of China's diplomacy is Africa, which is undergoing its own important technological changes. South Africa's domestic circumstances, however, demonstrate that larger factors can override online sentiment. In two such important regions in the world, it is important to consider whether these domestic changes are likely to strengthen or undermine future China-Africa future relations.