The Foreign Service Journal - November 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2017 31 rate of 10 percent per year; between 1981 and 2011, the number of citizens living in absolute poverty dropped by a staggering 753 million. How Beijing accomplished this and what it means is a matter of lively debate in policy circles around the world. In this book, Bradley Gardner zeroes in on one striking fac- tor in China’s transformation: the migration of more than 500 million people from their birthplaces to the country’s rapidly growing cities. In analyzing the role of migration in China’s economic development, the author draws on his own research and journalistic experience in China, including interviews with ordinary folk, to understand why people chose to migrate and the subsequent social and political effects of such massive population shifts. He examines the problems policymakers faced and how they addressed them. Bradley M. Gardner joined the State Department Foreign Service in 2014. An economic officer, he has served in Nepal and is now posted in Slovakia. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he worked at the Independent Institute, as a research analyst with the China office of The Economist’s intelligence unit and as managing editor of China International Business and editor-in-chief for China Offshore/Invest In at Mx Media . Does Democracy Matter? The United States and Global Democracy Support Adrian A. Basora, Agnieszka Marczyk and Maia Otarashvili, editors; Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2017, $34.77/paperback, 222 pages. Confidence in the future of democracy has been shaken by the authoritarian resurgence of the past decade; some experts now argue that it is no longer realistic for America to continue to champion that cause overseas. Eleven scholars from a wide variety of backgrounds explore that pressing ques- tion in Does Democracy Matter? The United States and Global Democracy Support. This book is the product of the Foreign Policy Research Insti- tute’s Project on Democratic Transitions, a yearlong process of study groups that culminated in a conference in October 2014. The contributors concur that in the long run, U.S. strategic inter- ests are generally served by the spread of democracy abroad. But they caution that support of democratization may conflict with short-term U.S. national security goals. The concluding chapter assesses where and how such democracy support policies can be effective. Adrian A. Basora and Kenneth Yalowitz, who co-authored the book’s introduction and its concluding chapter, are retired Senior Foreign Service officers. Kenneth Yalowitz served twice as U.S. ambassador, to Belarus (1994-1997) and to Georgia (1998-2001), during his 36-year diplomatic career. Adrian A. Basora, also one of the book’s editors, served as chief of mission in Prague (1992-1995). Amb. Basora directed FPRI’s Project on Democratic Transitions, and is currently co-director of its Eur- asia Program. Basora’s co-editors, Agnieszka Marczyk (who also contributed a chapter) and Mara Otarashvili, are both fellows at FRPI. The Iran Nuclear Deal: Bombs, Bureaucrats and Billionaires Dennis C. Jett, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, $39.99/paperback, $29.99/e-book, 476 pages. This timely book examines attempts by crit- ics of President Barack Obama to influence the outcome of his administration’s six years of negotiations with Tehran over Iran’s nuclear capabilities. As the author documents, trying to prevent a successful outcome to the talks became a cottage industry in Washington. Billionaire Sheldon Adelson has perhaps been the most prominent and deep-pocketed contributor to the effort, pouring millions of dollars of his own money into it. But he had plenty of company in that crusade. On the pro-diplomacy side, a wide range of religious, peace and arms control groups worked together, with some financial support coming from the Plough- shares Fund, to help create the space for a negotiated agreement. The author presents and assesses the tactics used by both sides of the debate. In the process, he reveals how a conten- tious foreign policy issue can expand from a task for high-level decision-makers into a wide-ranging fight involving scores of nongovernmental organizations, the media and thousands of activists. During 28 years as a State Department Foreign Service officer, Dennis Jett served as ambassador to Peru and Mozambique, among many other assignments. He is currently a professor of international relations and founding faculty member of the School of International Affairs at Penn State University, and has written three previous books: Why Peacekeeping Fails (2001), Why American Foreign Policy Fails (2008) and American Ambas- sadors: The Past, Present and Future of America’s Diplomats (2014), all published by Palgrave Macmillan.