For more than a century, Poland has been one of the largest sending areas in Central and Eastern Europe and a vast reservoir of labor for many countries in Western Europe and North America. Poland's geographical and political location predestined it to struggle amidst the interplay between the West and the East, in both historical and cultural perspectives as well as economic and social contexts.

Dr Alexandre Rivas is a scientist and teacher at the University of Manaus, capital of the Amazon state in Brazil. Het tells us about the regional integration buidling hydropowered dams, international roads, oil- and gaspipelines as well as harbors in order to economically develop this part of the world. He explains, for instance, that the construction of BR 319 from Manaus to Porto Velho in Brazil could be the end of the rainforest as we know it.