How is it that, in a time of unprecedented global opulence and market activity, billions of dollars flow through the developing world without altering its reality of poverty and scarcity? Jenny Kehl explores the crucial relationship between foreign direct investment and domestic development, focusing on the wide variation in the capacity of governments to negotiate FDI to the advantage of their citizens.To isolate the influence of political factors, Kehl examines one of the largest foreign investors, General Motors, in its relations with six host countries representing a range of political systems. Her cases, along with her larger statistical study, soundly refute conventional wisdom, demonstrating that the essential elements for successfully using FDI for development are political, not economic, and pointing to the political strategies and institutions that can best maximize the domestic benefits of FDI.