ABSTRACT
Third World revolutions, whether socialist or middle class, reflect the failure of dependent capitalism as a model for balanced development, a nationalistic reaction to dependency on imperialism and to underdevelopment, a popular desire for political participation and social justice, and a strong desire to return to the native culture and way of life. The primary purposes of imperialism in its struggle against middle-class revolutions are to moderate their leaders, direct them toward accepting existing international arrangements, and prevent them from making policy changes that would undermine capitalist forces at home or the interests of imperialism worldwide. The middle-class leadership is equally nonsympathetic to socialist models of development, including the Soviet and Chinese models and the “non-capitalist way of development.” The middle class has no clear political stance and is constantly vacillating between extremism and moderation. The economic transformation of the post-revolutionary society constitutes the most difficult task facing the middle-class leadership.
