It is customary in the Netherlands to celebrate just about any happy occasion with a speech and a glass of sherry or genever. So when our first volume of essays, Expansion and Reaction, came off press in December, 1977, we invited our friends in the vicinity to hear the then Minister of Development Cooperation J.P.Pronk. We have chosen to print his remarks because they illustrate from what viewpoint government officials view our activities. Pronk is now Professor at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague and M.P. for the Dutch Labour Party.