International Dependency and the Economic Development of Less Advanced Countries

Dependency is a double-edge sword that can either promote or demote the status of the dependent. The case of the dependency relationship between less advanced countries (LACs) and most industrialized countries (MICs) is a pertinent example that explains the attitude developed by each party to situate and maintain itself in its current status to be classified as underdeveloped, developing or developed. This paper investigated the effects of international dependency on the economic development of LACs using the analytical approach of secondary data interpretation and found that although the dependency between LACs and MICs is bi-directional, LACs have surrendered all their potentials for attaining economic development to MICs who are steadily designing different devices such as developmental projects aids, structural adjustment programs, MDGs or good governance programs to maintain them in a state of economic and political vulnerability. In view of this, the paper recommends LACs to wake up from sleep and take their destiny in hand by building up strong institutions that can take care of their needed structural changes and basic-needs requirements before embracing the ideas of international dependence revolution models (IDRMs) and market fundamentalism models (MFMs), for no external forces may sacrifice to hold the bull by the horns for them to milk the cow