International development cooperation is in crisis. Questions abound: is it effective? Is it even useful? After ten years of "aid fatigue", here is a lucid, constructive book that sheds new light on the problems, and makes proposals for reform that are both thoughtful and innovative. Jean-David Naudet's analysis is a genuine contribution to the literature on aid. He combines the insight of the sociologist and the experience of the practitioner, with a few enlightening incursions into organization theory. The book is both pragmatic and concrete, and is based on papers and workshops organized by the Club du Sahel as part of a detailed study of international development cooperation. It is direct in style and easy to read, with a wealth of quotations and examples. Although it mainly covers the Sahel region, the analysis and proposals for reform are relevant to all of Africa and even other parts of the world. Similarly, the vivid picture it draws of the cooperation and aid relationship is reminiscent of the situation in many countries. "Mr. Naudet is to be congratulated for producing this provocative and hard-hitting book". Elliot Berg. Jean-David Naudet is at present working as an economist at DIAL (Développement et insertion internationale), a scientific interest grouping.