ABSTRACT
Long before the term Development made its regular appearance in discussions of United States (US) foreign policy, its economic and political dimensions were integral aspects of post–World War II American geopolitics. From the perspective of Development programs it was another post-war project that was of particular relevance. Problems of social and economic change were identified in the National Security Council report as important to the US "because of the political developments to which they may lead. By the end of the 1950s, the assumption that Economic Development was essential to the implementation of foreign policy interests was matched by the conviction that economic growth was itself attainable "only in a world which was capable of both buying from the US and selling to it." To note that counterinsurgency policies subverted the formal intentions of Development programs as defined in official discourse is an extreme example of understatement.
