America's use of foreign aid as a weapon in the Cold War is the subject of this lively book-length essay. Author Brynes knows the intricate mechanisms of our AID programs and some history. He argues that stuffing mouths may end in stuffing the cannons of war. He offers the examples of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, the former buying off foreign relations with food, the latter trying to make its prosperity cover up for political, ethical, moral and intellectual flaws. Neither could prevent their downfall. America must try to put aside its imperialist-philanthropic notions that to care for other people is to buy their support. In assuming the hungry man's burden, we also appropriate his initiative. Status quo governments abound, economies come to depend too much on U.S. assistance, and besides they willfully wage war with American weapons. Brynes also argues that a nuclear war may result when both sides insist upon using aid to propagandize smaller nations. While his historical analogies may not be to everyone's taste, his critique of the AID program should make some Washingtonians pull in their belts. A clear statement of current minority position on foreign aid, and one which parallels Senator Fulbright's recently articulated criticism.