Dependence Phenomenon: its Origins, Dimensions and Outcomes

The main dilemma of this study focuses on the explanation of reasons behind the continuation of the state of dependency in most of the third world countries. Despite the theoretical and practical efforts, the phenomenon of economic dependence in these countries has persisted and deepened. The aspirations of the 1960s and 1970s have faded away.  Even the few numbers of the good performance in the development have been in the orbit of the existing global capitalist system.It is worth noting that the theory of dependence has guided criticism of the modernization theories and models of Western development, and it concluded that the state of underdevelopment is due to the dependence relations between Third World countries and the capitalist center. The theory has developped new concepts and models such as the subordinate development or the development of underdevelopment under what it calls structural colonization or neocolonialism. The study highlighted the evolution of the theory in many areas such as the structure of international sy-stem and the social and class formation of the postcolonial state. Moreover, it confirmed that authoritarianism was inseparably linked to the subordinate development model.The study examined the applications of the dependency theory and the possibility of exiting in the experiences of a number of countries in the world, namely the experience of independent development in the era of Mohamed Ali's family in Egypt, the contradiction between Malaysian leadership and the international capitalist system in the light of the Asian crisis, and finally the pattern of authoritarian development of C-hilePinochet.  The study concluded that the school of dependency chose to focus on the economic and political dimensions of dependency without paying sufficient attention to the role of cultural and civilizational dimensions, which emerge in the defeated mentality which believes in the superiority of the western model.  The dependent social and cultural elites intently worked hard to consolidate the dependent relationship. Indeed, genuine independence begins with the independent thinking and building new identity able to challenge the new waves of colonialism.