There is a global war being waged for talent. It pits capital against labour, the developed world against the developing, and south against north. But where is this war being fought? Who are its foot soldiers? And is it right to call it a war at all? One of the battlefronts is lined with Chinese graduates seeking overseas experience. Another features Indian students on their way to MIT or Indian technologists leaving Silicon Valley to start businesses back home. Then there are the eastern Europeans scouring western Europe for opportunities, as well as the recession-hit youth of Ireland, marching once again along the routes their parents took in the 1980s. All are looking for the best places to develop their experience and apply their skills, some with a mind to make a life there. Others with every intention of eventually taking their newly wrought skills home.