At the invitation of the Chilean Government, IDS, in cooperation with the Chilean National Planning office (ODEPLAN) organised a round table conference on "The Chilean Road to Socialism", held in Santiago from 23 March - 1 April 1972. This conference was almost unique in the range of its participants. This was obviously true in terms of political zones (one does not often see Soviet and American citizens, or East and West Germans, together at non-official conferences in the social sciences); it was also true in the sense that it brought in a number of younger people not usually seen on the conference circuit. A third important feature was the fact that many Chileans outside the Government attended, some of them distinctly critical of its policies.