Western perceptions of the Middle East have all too often been simplified. Islamic culture can easily be stereotyped in the Western media and even in this century the orient has been romanticized. Here, five writers from widely different backgrounds argue that these perceptions are maintained in the current policies of Western governments and institutions.

A critique of why Third World poverty is so prevalent. Hunger and malnutrition stalk the countries of the South. Over the last 20 years, as the populations of these countries have increased, so too has mass poverty. In this critical study of Western aid giving, Bello offers a pursuasive argument that re-colonization of the Third World has been carried out through the agencies of the International Banks. Bello argues that the Reagan Administration came to power with an agenda to discipline the Third World and in pursuing this policy, the United States pushed the World Bank to shift its...

Democracy has many aspects. It can act as a tool to empower people, as well as a mechanism for assessing the legitimacy of a government. But democracy can also be used by powerful elites as a device of control. In the post-Cold War era, democratization of the Third World has been developed by Western powers as a policy that fuses both democratic rhetoric and support for more pluralist policies in the Third World, with the pursuit of Western interests.