MERLE DAVID KELLERHALS is an American essayist, journalist, and critic; and was a correspondent for United Press International, the Knight-Ridder Commodity News Service, the Washington File (USIA), the North Charleston Banner, the Charlotte News, and the Charleston Post and Courier.  Born in Charleston of a Swiss-Anglo family, Kellerhals is the author of China’s Path to Democracy: A Perspective and The Ambiguous Environment: A Study of US Experiences in the Philippine War and The Vietnam War.