I've invested comparatively little in emerging markets for the reasons in your penultimate paragraph plus the standard bogle/buffett advice. I definitely also have a nagging feeling that I could be very wrong about this strategy. For better or worse, I've viewed emerging markets in the same way that patrick views investing in startups: I have little reason to think/presume they will outperform the US markets on average, but I also couldn't successfully argue that they wouldn't.