The Rise of Global Civil Society: Building Communities and Nations from the Bottom Up
"Anyone in international business should read this book. Don Eberly describes in convincing detail the dynamic force-multiplying interaction of technology, communications, compassion, and civic norms and practices in Third World (and Second World) countries. Businesses concerned with creating markets must appreciate the important parallel phenomenon of the proliferation of thriving economic communities built from the bottom up. Eberly reveals both the surprising scale and the important nuances of a new and hope-filled force in our age." --William W. Adams, former chairman and president of Armstrong World Industries"Building Nations from the Bottom Up is a brilliant book that captures a growing movement transcending national, cultural, and ideological differences. The spirit of volunteerism and the mobilization of civil society, once thought unique to America, are spreading throughout the world. This is a hopeful sign for war-torn nations and for countries with high rates of poverty and disease. It is also a hopeful sign for America, whose greatest export is its compassion. No one in America is better positioned to tell this story than Don Eberly, who has worked both in the trenches in communities around the world and at the highest levels of our government." --John Bridgeland, former assistant to the President of the United States, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and director of the USA Freedom Corps"Don Eberly is America's leading thinker about civil society. This timely book is a one-of-a-kind blueprint for a people-first globalization movement. An intellectual godfather of national fatherhood initiatives and longtime champion of community-based charities that serve the poor, Eberly has distinguished himself in public service from Washington D.C. to Iraq. Now, in Building Nations from the Bottom Up, he analyzes how to build healthy societies, economies, and governments `from the bottom up.' This important book charts a new course to homegrown peace and prosperity that can benefit children and families all around the world." --John J. DiIulio Jr., Frederic Fox Leadership Professor of Politics, Religion and Civil Society, University of Pennsylvania, and former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives"Few tasks are more urgent for American foreign policy than building the `infrastructure of democracy,' as President Ronald Reagan said nearly twenty-five years ago. . . . Don Eberly has offered up a timely set of strategies and insights on how to do exactly this, based on years of experience around the world. There are valuable lessons here for both the public and the private sector as we seek to engage a broad range of challenges. Eberly's work is a must-read for all of us who are seeking to fulfill Reagan's vision and help other nations gain the freedoms upon which a real civil society is based." --John Sullivan, executive director of the Center for International Private Enterprise"If you ever doubted that the United States has an important role to play in world development--or wondered what that role might be and whether it is worth pursuing--read this book. Eberly argues, clearly and persuasively, that the world's biggest constituency for the `American values' of the market, the rule of law, and democracy are the poor of the developing world--four billion potential partners in their own development." --Hernando De Soto, author of The Mystery of Capital