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stability, and with the security of all nations, not the least the U.S. It is 

 a reasonable forecast that international turbulence will be centered in the 

 developing world. That estimate is reflected in U.S. military and foreign 

 policies. It is much less evident in official economic policies, especially 

 as represented by the U.S. -commitment to economic assistance, which is 

 scandalously low relative to the conmitments of other industrialized 

 countries. Altruism is not a necessary part of the justification for 

 assistance; national self-interest in reasonably orderly and positive economic 

 development ought to dictate a much larger U.S. effort than is presently in 

 evidence (or in prospect). 



Whether or not economic assistance to developing countries is high on the 

 U.S. agenda at the moment, there is a substantial probability that it will be 

 forced there through political or economic crises, or national calamities such 

 as widespread drought. 



The various reasons for the U.S. indifference and often opposition to 

 foreign^ assistance cannot be usefully probed here. However, the central 

 nature of technology in development does provide a focus for exploring how to 

 maximize the U.S. role, whatever the aggregate scale of assistance, and for 

 highlighting some of the particular issues within specific fields, such as 

 agriculture and population that need to be confronted. 



It should be explicitly stated that underlying this section is the belief 

 that economic growth, reasonable political stability, and a working economic 

 system in a developing country (with important effects on markets for goods, 

 agriculture production, resource availability, and reduction in fertility) can 

 all be advanced by appropriate and substantial external assistance, that all 



