Economist Vernon Ruttan offers a comprehensive review of United States development assistance policy from the end of World War II to the present. His emphasis is on the structures and programs that proliferated over the past fifty years designed to provide underdeveloped countries with technical and economic assistance. Ruttan follows the development of the U.S. Agency for International Development, quasi-governmental agencies, and private voluntary organizations.

He also examines U.S. policy toward the World Bank, United Nations agencies, and other international development assistance organizations.

Ruttan's interest is not to measure the impact of U.S. assistance programs but to examine the domestic political forces that have directed the development assistance policy of the United States. By this detailed review, he shows how political interests often detrimentally influenced development efforts. Ruttan concludes that the U.S. development assistance program is in disarray and that there is a real need for its deep re-evaluation and restructuring.

The last two chapters of the book review past reform efforts and outline Ruttan's own recommendations. A large and important work from one of the most influential development economists active today, this book will serve as a reference both for specialists and for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of development issues.