By the early 1970s, the postwar period of decolonization had come to an end. A host of new nations had been created, and the imperial order that had reached its apex in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had been almost completely dismantled. This did not mean, however, that the unequal relationship between developing and developed nations had been fundamentally altered. Developing nations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America faced enormous political and economic challenges. These challenges were, in many cases, exacerbated by the actions and policies of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful nations. Cold War competition prompted both the United States and the Soviet Union to intervene in the domestic politics of nations around the world, often in ways that ran counter to the interests of the nations involved. Moreover, starting in the 1970s, liberal political and economic ideology experienced a resurgence in the West. The United States in particular championed liberal economic policies and global free trade. Proponents of such policies argued that they would ultimately benefit all peoples because they would stimulate global economic growth. Opponents, including the leaders of a number of developing countries, saw liberalization as just the latest Western strategy to perpetuate global inequality.