Theory Of Modernization

Michael Latham’s book provides a broad and concise understanding of the history of US foreign policy, spanning from the colonial era of the 1890s to the 21st century, from the American Philippines to Latin America, India, Iran and North Africa. He explores how the theory of modernization in the USA evolved out of the embers of World War II, with roots in progressive and New Deal thought as well as the rise of social sciences as an academic area, and how its pursuit and implementation dictated American foreign policy in various countries for much of the 20th century. He also discusses the theory and history of modernization through references to intellectuals such as Walt W. Rostow, Lucien Pye and others, to place the theory in the development

Latham also quotes that the USA had a power and obligation that could change the course of the world, considering that “their society stood at history’s leading edge” (p. 4) and that “the United States had a unique, global mission to transform the world into its own image” (p. 182). In fact, it was intellectuals such as Rostow and Pye that postulated for a foreign policy rooted in modernization theory so as to bring the postcolonial countries in the developing world onto a level similar to that in the West. In this period, Latham states that “planning, development, and foreign assistance could become key elements in a broad strategy to steer nationalist forces toward liberal capitalism” (p. 57). The belief was that said development and planning would allow for an appealing ideology and open-market systems, especially when challenged by socialist ideology and could be seen through measures such as the financial aid of the Marshall Plan in Europe. Thus, American foreign policy also shared the intention of challenging and containing communism “through a fundamental structural change in the world environment itself, driving the postcolonial regions through the difficult, destabilizing transitional process and

The same pattern can be seen here, with Western policymakers believing Western ideals to be easily implemented into a new society of a different culture and history, as if the other country was soft clay waiting to be molded by Western hands. Many critics were becoming increasingly concerned with developmental intervention as the means of attaining political and global stability in light of US support of dictators like Nguyen van Thieu in South Vietnam as well as environmental and ecological damage caused by the ‘green revolution’.

Thus, Latham provides a succinct, concise yet informational volume about the role of modernization theory and its impact on US foreign policy in the various countries explored. Although he relies mainly on secondary sources, primary sources have been included to substantiate his argument. His points are exceptionally salient in the contemporary age as well as the time it was written, with new threats to global security emerging sometimes directly because of reckless American intervention based on the theory of