Review: The American Imperative. Reclaiming Global Leadership Through Soft Power, by Daniel F. Runde

This unusual book takes us to the heart of the ‘development community’ in Washington. Its author is a long-serving Republican, familiar with the tangle of agencies and policies dedicated for years to delivering varieties of assistance to countries around the world in need of outside help. As a result, his book is part history, part memoir, part primer and, above all, a manifesto calling on the US government in all its forms to dedicate far more attention and funds to the cause of ‘development’. If ignored, the entire field, worldwide, will be swallowed up by the Chinese, warns the author.