Biography of Lon Trotsky Essay - 1070 Words

Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) was a Russian Marxist politician and revolutionary in the early 20th century. His contribution to Soviet Russia was immense through his practice of Marxist and Trotskyist theory for Russia and the world. His rise to prominence in the Soviet Union was characterized by his work and partnership with Lenin. Trotsky’s most significant accomplishments included his leadership of the Red Army and success in the February Revolution, which consolidated Bolshevik power. Trotsky’s ‘talent’ and ability’ was undoubted, however, it was insufficient to attain leadership of the Soviet Union. Following the death of Lenin, Lenin’s Testament confirmed Trotsky as the rightful successor, although his power struggle with Stalin resulted†¦show more content†¦Ultimately, ‘this had brought together two revolutionary leaders, committed to the overthrow of capitalism’ (Christian) and the Tsarist autocracy in Russia. This par tnership between Lenin and Trotsky was imperative, as Lenin had viewed Trotsky as a valuable and vital asset to the revolution, where his leadership, ‘talent’ and ‘ability’ would play a major role. Trotsky’s involvement in the 1917 revolution was of utmost significance to Bolshevik success. With Lenin in exile in Finland, Trotsky became the public face of Bolshevism. Trotsky’s leadership of the Soviet demonstrated his distinct skills, which became essential to the success of the revolution. His formation, recruiting, disciplining and arming of the Red Guard became a significant factor to the movement. It had amassed to over 200,000 militants by October. Additionally Trotsky’s arranging of the Soviet, placing Bolshevik delegates in power, allowed the Bolsheviks to organize the Military Revolutionary committee. Isaac Deutscher commends Trotsky for his brilliant Military organization and leadership of the revolution. Furthermore, he recog nizes Trotsky as the key to the success of the revolution as Lenin was in exile. However, from Richard’s Pipe’s perspective, Trotsky’s role in the Revolution

Baseball Is The Worst Deal Ever - 1960 Words

â€Å"Baseball is like church,† Leo Durocher once said, â€Å"many attend, few understand.† Nearly everyone agrees that baseball is America’s pastime but not nearly everyone understands it or it’s intricate parts; the same can be said for negotiation. The art of negotiation transcends any one topic or area. From our very beginnings as a country when we scored what went down as one of the greatest deals in history, the Louisiana Purchase, and later what may be known as the worst deal ever, the Boston Red Sox trading Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Contract negotiation has evolved immensely since the sport’s inception in 1839. Like most professional sports, Major League Baseball has a plethora of negotiation systems, both formal and informal, that rule how they conduct business. For example, in 1935 Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which was given the authority to produce, amend, and rescind rules and regulations therein. This Act by Congress empowers employees outside of the government in what is commonly referred to as the private sector, to unionize and use the tools of collective bargaining to improve a number of issues in their work place. Specifically, Major League Baseball and the Players Union negotiate after the end of every contractual agreement for things such as minimum player salaries, player safety, fan safety, and even things such as league expansion. In fact, Major League Baseball was the first professional sports organization to come toShow MoreRelatedBaseball Has Been One Of The Most Popular Sports Since1059 Words   |  5 PagesBaseball has been one of the mo st popular sports since the 1700s. Over the years baseball was a segregated team. This changed once Jackie Robinson joined the major leagues. He was a well-known African American baseball player. â€Å"On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the so-called color barrier by becoming the first African American to play in Major League Baseball† (Worker’s World, 2007). This created some controversy over the years. With Robinson playing in the major leagues, this helped changeRead MoreEssay about Harm Caused by Steroids in the MLB756 Words   |  4 Pagesenough controversy to last us the whole season. At a time when we’d much rather be thinking about the smell of fresh cut grass, hot dogs and pennant dreams, we’re forced to deal with a far darker issue. Now more than ever, there is alarming suspicion concerning apparent steroid drug use in Major League Baseball. As an avid baseball watcher and player of the game for twelve years this scandal is of great conc ern to me. In the time to come I will be informing you of how steroid use has tarnished baseball’sRead MoreJackie Robinson was also known as Jack Rossevelt Robinson. Jackie Robinson had very many700 Words   |  3 PagesJackie Robinson was also known as Jack Rossevelt Robinson. Jackie Robinson had very many struggles; Jackie was drafted and assigned to Fort Riley, Kansas, where he faced racial discrimination on a daily basis, he was the first African American in baseball, transformed the face of American sports forever, and his father abandoned the family when Jackie was an infant, and forced his mother and four older siblings to join the Great Migration of the time and move to California. Jackie was born on JanuaryRead MoreJackie Robinson1707 Words   |  7 PagesBaseball has always been Americas national pastime. In the early and all the way into the mid 50s, baseball was America and America was baseball. The only thing lacking in the great game was the absence of Afric an American players and the presence of an all white sport. America still wasnt friendly or accepted the African American race and many still held great prejudice towards them. All this would change when the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey decided he was going toRead More Jackie Robinson Essay1698 Words   |  7 Pages Baseball has always been America’s national pastime. In the early and all the way into the mid 50’s, baseball was America and America was baseball. The only thing lacking in the great game was the absence of African American players and the presence of an all white sport. America still wasn’t friendly or accepted the African American race and many still held great prejudice towards them. All this would change when the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey decided he was going toRead More Archetypes In The Natural Essay examples1379 Words   |  6 PagesArchetypes in The Natural nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;After discovering a God-given talent, a young boy struggles to achieve his only dream; to become the best there ever was. Baseball is all he has ever known, so he prevails through the temptations and situations laid before him by those out to destroy his career. His hopes and dreams outweigh all the temptations along his journey. These hopes, dreams, and temptations are depicted through archetypes in the movie The Natural. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;AnRead MoreBreaking Down Doors 1521 Words   |  7 Pagesenough to play with the white kids. A lot of people like to say that is what motivated him to be the baseball player he was. He, along with many others wanted to make a change in the sport that they loved. But Jackie was the only one who was physically capable of making this possible. He was bigger, faster, stronger, and more motivated. Jackie was the best player the professional Negro league had ever seen. Robinson was willing to do whatever he had to do to get to where he needed to get to succeedRead MoreMy Experience At High School Essay1019 Words   |  5 Pagesexperiences. One of these experiences I chose to take part in was football. It was this decision that led me to this fateful day. A day in which my left leg was shattered and my perspectives on life were drastically changed. The journey I had embark on to deal with all of the after effects of this event taught me life lessons I’ll ne ver forget. It was October 24th, 2014. This date fell on a Friday and during football season that meant it was game day for most high school teams. Not just any game thoughRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Lynn And Lucy Search For Presents Around The House 1320 Words   |  6 Pagesfood: pancakes and pizza. CHEATER BY THE DOZEN The second time Lynn doesn’t have sports for an entire episode. In Giovanni Chang’s Italian Chinese Bistro, she munches on a breadstick. LOCK ‘N’ LOUD In her bedroom, Lynn teaches Leni and Lola how to deal with removing a dummy burglar. Later, she gets her roller derby team to help Bobby guard the house. THE WHOLE PICTURE One of the pictures Lincoln permanently deleted shows Lincoln in the bathtub with Lynn. Lincoln and Clyde, dressed up as Lynn wearingRead MorePlay for a Kingdom by Thomas Dyja1220 Words   |  5 Pagesaccomplish their goals of victory. Some of the men were heroes and would die in battle, and the cowards wouldn’t have a scratch on them and survive another day. The war also took a toll on the lives of soldier’s families. Soldiers not coming home is the worst kind of horror a family could face, fathers and sons not coming back to their mothers and wives. Constant killing in the four years of war, lives being interrupted for men to kill each other over a dispute is all heart break for the families left behind

Construction Economics And Building - Free Sample Solution

Question: Describe about the Construction Economics and Building? Answer: Introduction Project management becomes a complex phenomenon due to the enlargement in the size, variability and scope of the project. HS2 (High Speed 2) is one of the mega projects of UK Government, which is planned to connect the major cities of the country with the some isolates parts (Gov. UK, 2016). The other projects such as Crossrail, Heathrow Airport third runway, etc. are some examples of mega projects. The successful achievement of a project requires relevant skills, strategies and techniques (Marion Jr et al, 2014). In this paper, project managers skills and required strategies and techniques are discussed. Project managers role in managing HS2 and other similar projects to achieve success is also identified and discussed in this paper. Project Managers Skills In accordance to Crdoba and Piki (2012), the success of a project largely depends on the skills of the project manager as through this, management of project from initiation to implementation, control and closure becomes more systematic. It leads to the successful completion of capital and people intensive mega projects like HS2, Crossrail and Heathrow Airport third runway. Below hard and soft skills would be critical for the project manager to ensure successful completion of project and to create maximum benefits for the stakeholders: Hard Skills Hard skills mean such abilities that allow project managers to perform technical tasks. Project manager of mega project would need hard skills to develop work breakdown structure, critical path, financial plan, timeline, scheduling, reports, etc. For creating this deliverable, project manager of Crossrail project would require skills to use technical tools such as spreadsheet, Business Information Modelling (BIM), scheduling software, etc (Heckman and Kautz, 2012). This tool would facilitate planning and management of resources, which are critical to ensure project success. According to Fisher (2011), hard skill enables project manager to plan and manage the use of resources during project initiation to closure stage. It facilitates the development of range of plans and their proper organization properly. Hard skills would be critical for the project manager of HS2 and other extra-large projects to develop objectives, to allocate roles and responsibilities, to estimate budget, to prepare timeline and to perform other management activities. For example: project manager will need to develop a risk management plan to document the possible problems in developing transport network for the high speed railway facility and their solutions. The identification and management of risk is quite critical to complete the project within estimated cost and time. Gustavsson and Hallin (2014) state that project manager also plays critical role in scheduling work and delegating roles and responsibilities. Without the planning and management skills, manager of mega projects such as HS2 project will fail to prioritize the task and to allocate the resources including people and finance properly. Improper scheduling and misallocation of resources causes waste of critical resources that would cause project delay and cost overrun issues. Due to this, project manager would need planning and management skills to achieve this projects main objective of delivering huge rail capacity and connectivity. Lloyd-Walker and Walker (2012) depict that hard skills allow project managers of huge projects to document and analyze status report and to take actions. Through this, they make clear report and inform other about the expectation report. Heathrow Airport is a mega project that would be completed in the long time. The status report would be significant to access the performance of executers and consequently project success. Marando (2012) indicates that through hard skills, project manager would access the performance against the objectives to make plan for facilitating required changes. This will be effective to manage the resources throughout the project lifecycle and to ensure timely completion of project within estimated time. Marion Jr et al., (2014) state that hard skills help project manager to conduct audits and to deliver the outcomes. Due to this, it would allow project manager of mega project such as HS2 to make informed changes in the project and to address the potential challenges. On the other hand, Fisher (2011) states the importance of hard skill for project manager to integrate the tasks of different functional units of a project. For example: civil and electrical engineers are performed different task to construct high speed railway line in HS2 project. The integration of their functions would be critical to develop the final designs of railway lines for the different paths. It could be effective to design the path of railway line in informed manner that may reduce the requirements of changes in the later stages of project. Most importantly, integration will be significant for combining the different phases of project such as planning, implementing, controlling and reporting (Crdoba and Piki, 2012). In this way, project manager will need hard skill to complete such huge projects within the estimated scope, time and fund. With this, manager will able to manage the available resources to deliver project with all estimated specification. Soft Skills These skills are mainly related to the management of people rather than processes and systems. Soft skills can also be termed as interpersonal skills, which enable project manager to manage behaviour and action of people (Zhang et al., 2013). Crossrail and other projects are UKs high profile infrastructure projects that will employ vast number of people. Project managers would need soft skill to direct, organize, control and evaluate the behaviour and actions of involved people. This will be effective to achieve expected outcomes in timely manner. According to De Villiers (2010), soft skills mainly concerned with project managers ability of communicating, leading, negotiating, team building, motivating, decision making, trust building and managing conflicts. These abilities would be critical to manage the project team effectively and to attain success in project completion. Communication skills would be required to convey the complex ideas and objectives easily and clearly to the project members and to allow them to share their ideas and views openly. Through this, project manager would create a supportive and innovative working environment that could help team to deliver expected results successfully. For example: project manager in mega project such as Heathrow Airport would be accountable to ensure efficient utilization of resources and completion of each phase in timely manner. For this, project manager would need ability to lead and motivate people (Zhang et al., 2013). Carvalho and Rabechini Junior (2015) state that leadership skill would be required to direct the actions and to motive involved people to work at their best. This soft skill allows project manager to develop sense of shared responsibility for the accomplishment of assigned tasks. De Carvalho et al., (2015) state that soft skills allow project manager to solve problems and make knowledge decisions. It would help project manager of HS2 and other mega projects in finding creative solutions of the problems and ensuring progress of the project. According to Marando (2012), project manager needs soft skills to resolve conflicts and to build team. Crossrail and others are mega projects in which multiple teams from different functional areas will work together. Due to different experience level, functional area, cultural background, they could have different opinions and views, which may raise conflicts. Conflict resolution and team building skills of project manager would be significant to promote equity and diversity. It would create culture of team work that could encourage teams to focus on developing a high speed railway to the people for making their journey short and safe at the reasonable cost. This would develop harmony in team functions, which would improve the likelihood of project success. The major causes of project success mainly include communication failure, lack of motivation, ambiguous understanding for stakeholders expectations, delay in problem solving, uninformed decisions, etc. With the soft skill, the project manager would limit the occurrence of failure causes and to manage the project more effectively. This would ensure timely execution of project tasks with the expected quality level that may help to achieve success. Project Management Strategies Below strargties would be needed to complete the mega projects successfully and to create long run benefit for the stakeholder: Information management: Hartmann et al., (2012) state that strategies for managing information organize the information to make it accessible for all involved parties. Due to this, project manager of mega projects would be able to provide required information to the project team in precise and timely manner. For example: by considering project objectives, different information technological tool would be arranged by project manager of Heathrow Airport to create, manage, use and share information with help of information management strategies. It would be beneficial to allow project manager to facilitate timely flow of information among the team and to ensure informed decision-making that ensures project success. Risk Management: Project manager of HS2 and other similar projects would also be required to implement strategies for identifying, accessing and controlling the risk factors. The risk management strategies would enable project manager to create a planned response for managing risk and to reduce its negative impact on the project outcomes (Kardes et al., 2013). In accordance to Carvalho and Rabechini Junior (2015), risk management plan helps project manager to manage risk. For example: through this, project manager of HS2 would be able to manage potential obstacles and to ensure smooth flow of tasks for implementing high speed railway track within budgeted time and cost with required quality. Communication Strategies: Tran et al., (2013) state that an effective communication strategy is critical for project manager of mega projects to create strong relations with the team members and to lead them in the direction of main objectives. Project manager would inform team members regarding what, when, how and to whom, they need to report the work status. Through this, project team could inform each other and project manager about their work status that may facilitate co-ordination and team development. It would bring clarity in communication, which may reduce conflicts and ensure proper utilization of resources (Petersen et al., 2013). This will reduce possibilities of project delay and cost overrun that may facilitate the development of competent high speed railway for the people. Performance Evaluation and Management: According to Mir and Pinnington (2014), the strategies for evaluating and managing performance are critical to ensure successful completion of project as it helps project manager to track the performance of team members and to analyze them against the defined targets in timely manner. This helps to take required steps to improve performance level. In mega projects such as Heathrow Airport, project manager would be needed to apply performance management strategies for timely completion of day to day activities. Performance audit can be performed in weekly and monthly basis. It would help manager to access the progress of project and to deliver right quality project within estimated resources. Change Management: In reference of the view of Bloch et al., (2013), an effective change management strategy is critical for the success of a project as it helps project managers to adapt, control and respond the changes effectively. In complex project such as HS2, the practice of identifying and managing changes is a key aspect. The change management plan would be critical in this project to employ tools, techniques and people for moving from the current to desired state within the systematic manner. This would help to incorporate the changes smoothly in project and to deliver highly desirable high speed railway to the people. Resource Management: In mega project such as Crossrail, several resources such as people, facilities, equipments, funds, etc. are utilized. The efficient use of resources facilitates the achievement of project objectives. Through resource management strategies, project manager would able to identify and estimate the requirements of resources and to allocate and manage them as accordance to the needs of project (Bowen, et al., 2012). It could be effective to ensure implementation of project successfully. Techniques of Project Management Following techniques would be needed to employ by project manager to confirm HS2 project success: Resource Planning and Management Techniques: According to Golini et al., (2015), work breakdown structure, Gantt chart, Critical Path Method (CPM), Network Diagrams, Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT), etc. tools and techniques are critical to plan and manage the resources in project. These techniques would allow project manager in mega projects to estimate the resource requirements for the each activity of the project and to ensure proper allocation. These above techniques would facilitate complete visualization of project and feasible analysis of required resources. Project manager can ensure availability of right resource at the right place in the right time. Budgeting technique would also be needed to include for the better management funds and to reduce chances of cost overrun (Papke-Shields et al., 2010). This would be effective to make proper utilization of resources and to ensure successful completion of project. Techniques for Managing Communication: Project manager would need to implement techniques for managing communication. In the words of Tran et al. (2012), scheduling communication plan is an important technique for facilitating organized flow of communication between involved parties through the project life cycle. This plan will inform all members of HS2 and other mega projects regarding sources, time and content of communication that would ensure timely and accurate flow of information. Techniques for Controlling Risk: Carvalho and Rabechini Junior (2015) depict that there are four main techniques of managing project risk such as avoidance, transfer, acceptance and mitigation. Project manager of mega projects would be needed to implement risk management strategy as accordance to the nature of potential risks. Through these techniques, an adequate response for each possible risk could be developed and documented along with the allocation of resources. This would be useful to manage the risk within the real time basis and to ensure proper completion of project. Uncertainty caused disturbance in the project flow that creates issues of delay and cost overrun (Kikwasi et al., 2013). By implementing the risk management techniques, project manager will control the uncertainties properly that would be beneficial to ensure success achievement for mega projects. Change Facilitate Techniques: Proper planning of potential changes, their impact and management strategies would be the major technique for managing changes effectively in projects such as HS2, Crossrail, etc. Effective communication and staff education techniques would be employed by the project manager. Through communication, manager would be able to involve and motivate the staff for the required transition and to reduce resistance (Papke-Shields et al., 2010). Similarly Sarkis et al., (2010), training programs would also be arranged by project manager to develop required skills and abilities within the team members. It could be effective to encourage team for executing tasks in the direction of changed needs of such mega projects. This would allow project manager to incorporate the required changes in throughout the project life cycle effectively and to ensure its completion within estimated time and cost. Performance Administration: Project manager would need to implement different techniques of apprising performance such as Management by Objectives (MBO), checklists, field review technique, etc. These techniques would be effective to reveal the gap between expected and existing performance level and to take timely actions for the improvement. Similarly, compensation, rewards, recognition, transfer, promotion, training, etc. techniques allow project to motivate the team to fill the performance gap (Mir and Pinnington (2014). It will ensure timely and proper execution of allocated tasks that would ensure success of mega projects. Conclusion On the basis of above discussion, it can be stated that the selection and application of right strategies and techniques along with the adequate mix of hard and soft skills, project manager of mega projects would be able to deliver the right product to the stakeholders within allocated resources. These will help project manager to ensure proper planning, implementation, evaluation and closure of the project, which is critical to minimize cost and maximise benefits for the stakeholders. Overall, the identified skills, techniques and strategies would help project manager to deliver competent and safe high speed railway infrastructure to the people, while utilizing minimum resources. References Bloch, M., Blumberg, S. and Laartz, J. (2012) Delivering large-scale IT projects on time, on budget, and on value. Harvard Business Review. Bowen, P.A., Cattel, K.S., Hall, K.A., Edwards, P.J. and Pearl, R.G. (2012) Perceptions of time, cost and quality management on building projects. Construction Economics and Building, 2(2), pp.48-56. Carvalho, M.M.D. and Rabechini Junior, R. (2015) Impact of risk management on project performance: the importance of soft skills. International Journal of Production Research, 53(2), pp.321-340. Crdoba, J.R. and Piki, A. (2012) Facilitating project management education through groups as systems. International Journal of Project Management, 30(1), pp.83-93. de Carvalho, M.M., Patah, L.A. and de Souza Bido, D. (2015) Project management and its effects on project success: Cross-country and cross-industry comparisons. International Journal of Project Management, 33(7), pp.1509-1522. De Villiers, R. (2010) The incorporation of soft skills into accounting curricula: preparing accounting graduates for their unpredictable futures. Meditari Accountancy Research, 18(2), pp.1-22. Fisher, E. (2011) What practitioners consider to be the skills and behaviours of an effective people project manager. International Journal of Project Management, 29(8), pp.994-1002. Golini, R., Kalchschmidt, M. and Landoni, P. (2015) Adoption of project management practices: The impact on international development projects of non-governmental organizations. International Journal of Project Management, 33(3), pp.650-663. Gov. UK (2016) HS2: high speed rail. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/hs2-high-speed-rail [Accessed: 15 July 2016]. Gustavsson, T.K. and Hallin, A. (2014) Rethinking dichotomization: A critical perspective on the use of hard and soft in project management research. International Journal of Project Management, 32(4), pp.568-577. Hartmann, T., Van Meerveld, H., Vossebeld, N. and Adriaanse, A. (2012) Aligning building information model tools and construction management methods. Automation in construction, 22, pp.605-613. Heckman, J.J. and Kautz, T. (2012) Hard evidence on soft skills. Labour economics, 19(4), pp.451-464. Hodgson, D.E. and Paton, S. (2016) Understanding the professional project manager: cosmopolitans, locals and identity work. International Journal of Project Management, 34(2), pp.352-364. Hou, L., Wang, X., Wang, J. and Truijens, M. (2014 ) An integration framework of advanced technologies for productivity improvement for LNG mega-projects. Journal of Information Technology in Construction, 19, pp.360-382. Kardes, I., Ozturk, A., Cavusgil, S.T. and Cavusgil, E. (2013) Managing global megaprojects: Complexity and risk management. International Business Review, 22(6), pp.905-917. Kikwasi, G. (2013) Causes and effects of delays and disruptions in construction projects in Tanzania. In Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building-Conference Series 1(2), pp. 52-59). Lloyd-Walker, B. and Walker, D. (2011) Authentic leadership for 21st century project delivery. International Journal of Project Management, 29(4), pp.383-395. Marando, A. (2012) Balancing Project Management Hard Skills and Soft Skills. Rabb School of Continuing StudiesDivision of Graduate Professional StudiesBrandeis University. Marion Jr, J.W., Richardson, T.M. and Earnhardt, M.P. (2014) Project manager insights: An analysis of career progression. Organisational Project Management, 1(1), pp.53-73. Mir, F.A. and Pinnington, A.H. (2014) Exploring the value of project management: linking project management performance and project success. International Journal of Project Management, 32(2), pp.202-217. Papke-Shields, K.E., Beise, C. and Quan, J. (2010) Do project managers practice what they preach, and does it matter to project success?. International Journal of Project Management, 28(7), pp.650-662. Petersen, L.S., Bertelsen, P. and Bjrnes, C. (2013) Cooperation and communication challenges in small-scale eHealth development projects. International journal of medical informatics, 82(12), pp.e375-e385. Sarkis, J., Gonzalez-Torre, P. and Adenso-Diaz, B. (2010) Stakeholder pressure and the adoption of environmental practices: The mediating effect of training. Journal of Operations Management, 28(2), pp.163-176. Takey, S.M. and de Carvalho, M.M. (2015) Competency mapping in project management: An action research study in an engineering company. International Journal of Project Management, 33(4), pp.784-796. Tran, S.T., Le Ngoc Thanh, N.Q.B. and Phuong, D.B. (2013) Introduction to information technology. In Proc. of the 9th inter. CDIO conf.(CDIO). Zhang, F., Zuo, J. and Zillante, G., 2013. Identification and evaluation of the key social competencies for Chinese construction project managers. International Journal of Project Management, 31(5), pp.748-759.

The Ivory Coast Essays - Economic Community Of West African States

The Ivory Coast The Ivory Coast is one of Africa's leading countries in industry and agriculture. This small country is located in West Africa on the Coast of Guinea where it is bordered by Mali and Burkina Faso on the north and by Guinea and Liberia on the west. The land itself is approximately 322,463 sq.kilometers and 124,504 sq.miles in size. With a population of around 12,600,000 people, of which 2,000,000 are foreigners from Burkina Faso and Ghana, the Ivory Coast is known for it's cultural diversity which started back in 1637 when it became a French Missionary contact. Then, in 1843-1845, it became an official proctrate of France. Thus, in 1893, the Ivory Coast became a French colony and remained part of French West Africa from 1904-1958. Finally in 1960, independence was gained from the overseas country of France. In the Ivory Coast, which is a Republic, they have a semi-democratic system. The position of president, currently being held by Felix Houphocet-Boigny, is elected to serve 5-year terms. Also, the president can run for re-election as many times as he chooses. For example, the current president was re-elected to serve a seventh term in 1990. Plus, there is a National Assembly comprised of about 120 people who help to govern the country. The nation has a tremendously stable economy because of the great amount of products that they produce for exporting. The Ivory Coast is the world's largest cocoa producer and the third largest coffee producer. These products alone bring in more than half of all export earnings. In addition, sugarcane, pineapples, oil palms, rubber, cotton, and bananas are also grown for export. The major problem of the country is the foreign debt which has grown extremely large due to massive amounts of loans given to the country by France. Plus, this increases taxes. The country's per capita is $ 740 and it's GNP (Gross National Product) is $ 8.59 billion.