Word: giant
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...There's no denying that the 2003 U.S. invasion unleashed chaos in Iraq, as sectarian hatreds, Iranian influence and ancient feuds over land and the oil beneath it produced a storm of bloodletting. But last month, once U.S. troops began to shrink back to their giant bases, which are like sand-blown, little American cities, with pizza and burger chains, they ceased to be the dominant player in Iraq. And if the U.S. can no longer influence events in Iraq, what's the point of lingering around eating gritty pizza...
...With the long nuclear winter finally over, you might think that execs at Areva, the world's biggest nuclear-energy company, are strutting just now. But you'd be wrong. The state-owned French giant is scrambling not just to rectify a series of snafus at a high-profile reactor it's building in Finland, but also to raise more than $10 billion in new capital and weather the loss of an important industrial partner. All that has raised concerns that CEO Anne Lauvergeon - who fused a disparate collection of firms into the first one-stop-shop nuclear conglomerate, winning...
...troubles in Finland probably contributed to German engineering giant Siemens' January decision to pull out of its eight-year partnership with Areva. It has also raised questions about CEO Lauvergeon's management style. Critics accuse her of being better at selling big projects than at executing them. Some suggest her refusal to reconfigure the joint venture with Siemens to give it a direct stake in Areva ultimately convinced the Germans they could do better with another partner. (Read: "Siemens Sues Its Own Managers...
...reports speculated that Lauvergeon could get the heave-ho as part of the evaluation, which looked at finances and strategy. The government was also reportedly upset that Lauvergeon continued to resist pressure from the Elysée to meld Areva with private French engineering company Alstom and private construction giant Bouygues to create a national nuclear megacompany...
...several years - and another $2.8 billion to buy Siemens' joint-venture stake. Spinetta's plan calls for the state to sell 15% of Areva to new investors. Leading potential buyers include Mitsubishi - a frequent Areva partner - and Abu Dhabi's flush sovereign wealth funds. (Read: "Abu Dhabi: An Oil Giant Dreams Green...