Since the Second World War, Marxist thought on imperialism has witnessed a major shift in theoretical outlook. Contrary to classical Marxism, postwar Marxist writers have argued that imperialism is a barrier in the less developed countries. Capital flows not to the underdeveloped countries but rather to the developed countries. As such, underdevelopment in the Third World is a product of the global operations of capitalism. In this context, the notion of capitalism containing both exploitative and emancipatory features (i.e., a "double mission") was replaced in favor of a view which stressed almost exclusively the negative aspects of the system.;Neo-Marxist theories of imperialism bear a very superficial resemblance to the theoretical formulations and methodological approach of Marxism. The authors in this tradition employ a methodology for explaining international political economy that is, in many respects, pre-Marxist in nature and origin. Instead of focusing on the sphere of production and class relations, they limit their analyses to the level of exchange relations. Consequently, neo-Marxist analyses on imperialism have failed not only to explain the essence and the causes of capitalist expansion, but have actually hindered the further development of Marxian international political economy.
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