The FAA license is valid anywhere in the world...as long as you are a flying a US Flag airplane.

There are essentially zero pilot jobs for Americans in Europe, and the only way an American can take advantafe of asian opportunities is by accumulating experience as a US airline pilot first. Therefore a US citizen needs to get the FAA stuff. If he gets hired by an asian airline, they will provide the license conversion training in evry case that I know of.

I taught at a JAA school, the requirements are much more intense academically, but not so much as far as the actual flying goes. This makes sense because the reality of a US commercial pilot license is that it allows you to work as a CFI (once you get that rating, and CFII & MEI). In order to get an actual pilot job flying an airplane you will need close to ATP time requirements in most cases. In the US experience is what counts, not ratings.

Actually, experience counts in asia too...instead of hiring locals with a brand new JAA license, the asian carriers tend to hire Americans/Brits/Aussies with previous airline experience...hmmm.