The Question of Development

Development policies and accompanying theories were an integral part of postwar U.S. foreign policy, designed to deal with the challenges of decolonization and the emergence of independent Third World states. They provided a model for the transition from traditional to modern societies that relied on the works of economists, sociologists, and political scientists, who formed part of the informal collective of modernization scholars identified with major academic institutions. Their objectives were closely aligned with those of U.S. foreign policy. Under very different national and global circumstances, there has been a revival of development and modernization policies that rest on claims of American “exceptionalism” and the commitment to export democracy. In practice, the implementation of such policies has less to do with promoting democracy than assuring compatible political and economic alignments in the states involved. The article that follows offers a critical analysis of the origins and nature of development and modernization policies in both postwar and later years.