title: Call external api from Web API synchronously
body: <p>I need to call an external api from my Web API 2 controller, similar to the requirement here:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13222998/calling-external-http-service-using-httpclient-from-a-web-api-action">Calling external HTTP service using HttpClient from a Web API Action</a></p>
  
  <p>However, the solution above requires adding the <code>async</code> keyword to my api method's GET call, thus making my call asynchronous. I prefer to present clients of my API with a synchronous method but still be able to call the external api from my own (and will need that to return before my api returns). Is there a way to do this?</p>