The purpose of this monograph is to examine changing perspectives of rural development in an effort to better understand change in rural social systems via analyzation of interactions between social systems in general and between the U.S. and Asian countries in particular. Initially, an analytic framework is presented which describes intersystem interactions in terms of: (1) Professional Intersystem Interaction (interaction operative at the human, administrative, and political levels and taking place in some kind of inter-system diplomatic milieu); (2) Thrid Culture Enclaves (an international elite operating outside the constraints of recognized social systems); (3) The Superiority Syndrome (paternalism). Presenting a definition of rural development, the second section suggests: (1) use of indicators (comparative measurements) and descriptors (environmental illustrations) in social system analysis; (2) a development cycle for analyzing social systems in terms of their components, the linkages between these components, and the milieu in which they operate; (3) the interaction between rural development stimulation and acquisition systems. Employing the analytic framework, the third section analyzes 6 time periods in the U.S./Asia involvement. The final section suggests social systems adopt the doctrine of interactive reciprocity to facilitate rural renaissance (change born from within). (JC)