'This valuable and timely volume obliterates the myth beloved of dictators that democracy is somehow the enemy of development rather than an essential ally. Here is a treasury of evidence that freedom is not only right - it works.' - Madeline Albright, former US Secretary of State For decades, policies pursued by the US and other industrialized nations towards the developing world have been based on a dirty little secret among policy experts: democracy and development don't mix. Turning this long-held view on its head, The Democracy Advantage makes a bold case that they do. In this timely, penetrating analysis, the authors of this path-breaking book explode the conventional wisdom that democratic reforms are destabilizing and that the U.S. must first promote development - often relying on authoritarian regimes - in order to create a middle class that will support democracy. Reviewing 40 years of hard, empirical data, from China and India to Chile and Iraq, the authors show that poor democracies beat poor autocracies in every economic measure. In addition, the authors offer dramatic evidence that democracies are less likely to fight each other and that terrorists more often find safe haven in authoritarian countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Wide-ranging and grounded in solid research, The Democracy Advantage outlines a new vision of foreign policy that combines the best of America's democratic and economic values.