Professional mobility and identity in international environments

What effect does job mobility have on executives ? What is it like, for experienced or less experienced employees, to be an American in Paris, a Frenchman in Gabon or a Nigerian in France ? What part of their nationality do they keep in their new surroundings ? What is it like to live through the brutal changes in social and economic structures in post-Soviet Russia which can make one feel like a stranger in one’s country ? The different perspectives and points of view of a Russian researcher and a French sociologist (who is also the director of human resources in large international companies) cast light on the contrast of the ‘strange foreigner’ and identity-related adjustments which enable an employee to keep his identity despite being in a foreign setting which is not necessarily attractive. Can we therefore identify a set of international skills which enhance other employee talents and create new social relations on a global scale ?