ABSTRACT
In the history of modern political thought, the ideas of Sun Yat-sen assume a unique position. They emerged in an era of colonial imperialism as the first coordinated system of practical ideas and programs for the emerging Third World. A doctrine begins with a thought, is then vitalized by the creation of faith, and finally is established by the production of force. Sun was determined to overthrow the despotic government of the Manchurian Ch'ing dynasty that had ruled China since 1644 with a system of ethnic separation, which kept the Manchu tribe in a position of superiority. The integration of China's multiethnic population into the national community of a new republic was—for Sun—an important value in itself and a prerequisite of effective nation building. Sun's basic idea of international forms of industrial development assistance and of related institutions has remained an attractive concept to those who are striving for broader frames and methods of North-South cooperation in the nuclear age.
