Vernon argues that the present ostensibly cordial relationships between governments and multinationals disguises serious tensions which need addressing by policy makers… Vernon’s book is an opportune reminder that underlying tensions between the interests of ‘governments’ and multinationals did not disappear in the 1990s, and that much of the enthusiasm for multinational investment in emerging and other economies is either naive, or, at the very least, based on insufficient understanding of the consequences of foreign direct investment.