Just Say No To Democracy: The Case for Soft Authoritarian Rule in the Early Stages of National Development (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781722458744)

Dave Lightle was born and raised in Tipp City Ohio. After graduating Tippecanoe High School, where he remains a legend to this day, he attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sino-Soviet Area Studies. He spent half of his college years abroad, and was among the first group of American college students to study in both the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China. He spent six months attending Leningrad State University and received a certificate for Russian Language and Culture; nine months attending National Taiwan Normal University and three months attending Peking University where he received certificates for Chinese Language and Culture. During his professional career, he continued to globetrot and brought a well-rounded perspective on national economic development to his branding and promotional work. Dave became the leading authority on country branding and promotion and was at the forefront of this unique niche in international marketing and branding for nearly 35 years. He earned his stripes in economic development while working for the Taiwan Government Information Office as the International Affairs Adviser and promotion agencies such as China External Trade Development Council (CETRA) as an independent consultant for more than 15 years combined, and is widely recognized as the architect of the Made in Taiwan image crafted during the late Eighties and into the Nineties. Subsequently, he was brought in as an adviser and consultant for Thailand's government during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, Colombia's nation branding (Colombia is Passion!) which helped open its doors wider to foreign tourism, foreign investment and exports, and similar projects for Panama. He spent the last decade of his life aggressively promoting Dayton Ohio as the Home of the Wright Brothers. He and his partners established The Wright Brothers USA, LLC and had been appointed by the Wright Family Foundation as the exclusive, global licensor for The Wright Brothers trademark. A sliver of that effort included creating a line of Wright Brother products to include flight jackets, aviator sunglasses and watches, travel bags, and also city bikes, which are central to the Wright Brothers' Wings to Wheels story (http: //thewrightbrothersusa.com/). Today this work continues to be carried out tirelessly by his partners. Dave passed away unexpectedly while on a business trip in China on August 28, 2016.