ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that an averaging policy toward developing nations, based on genuine friendship, aid, and respectful distance, will enhance the quality of American foreign policy. It suggests new ways of thinking about and implementing American foreign policy toward developing nations. The chapter considers how the international system has been perceived by those who make and debate American foreign policy. It discusses that the supporters and the opponents of American foreign policy base their positions on images of international instability that are inappropriate for developing countries. Averaging strategies originate as a response to conditions that make it prohibitively expensive to calculate new policies for each new situation. The case for adopting averaging strategies toward developing countries is much stronger than suggested by the problem of executive retirement. An averaging strategy is desirable when the inherent significance of the problem is minor, because the possible gains from correct individual decisions are much smaller than the likely losses from wrong ones.
