After World War II, the long era of colonialism began to unravel, giving rise to a global wave of decolonization. Newly independent Third World countries embraced a developmentalist strategy to modernize and achieve economic growth. However, a new form of dominance soon emerged—neocolonialism—a more insidious form of indirect control exercised by powerful nations. Many scholars consider this to be part of a broader framework of modern imperialism.

In the wake of decolonization, a radical shift swept across the developing world, commonly referred to as Developmentalism or Third World Nationalism. Developmentalist economists argued that countries could escape the cycle of poverty by adopting inward-oriented industrialization strategies rather than relying on the export of raw materials. They emphasized the importance of regulating—or even nationalizing—key industries such as oil and minerals.

By the 1950s, this strategy appeared successful. Notably, countries in the Southern Cone of Latin America—such as Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and parts of Brazil—began to showcase impressive growth stories under developmentalist policies.

Meanwhile, this period coincided with the intensification of the Cold War, which stood in sharp contradiction to the goals of developmentalism. The United States, viewing these governments as obstacles to corporate and strategic interests, began to overthrow........

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