Wallerstein's World Systems Theory

Not all geopolitical theories were used by western countries to rationalize foreign dominance. One in particular, the World Systems Theory, attempted to explain the reasons behind this dominance. Developed by Immanuel Wallerstein in 1974 with the publication of his paper titled “The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System: Concepts for Comparative Analysis”, this thesis critically evaluated the contemporary world economic system with a particular focus on the impact of US and European foreign policy in Africa.

At the time, Wallerstein was a Professor of Sociology at McGill University and focused specifically on critical theory as an explanation of global political and economic relationships. He spent his early career as an expert on post-colonial African affairs, where he became interested in the writings of Raul Prebisch, from the Structuralist School, and Andre Gunder Frank from the Dependency Theory branch of structuralism.

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