Pluralism, Development, and the Nicaraguan Revolution

This chapter follows the successful 1979 revolution to international alliance formation by the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) and reveals how the Reagan administration reshaped international development policy in reaction. It argues that the revolution took place at a moment when Latin American and European politicians pushed for “ideological pluralism” to recognize the possibility of multiple paths to development worldwide while simultaneously advocating global economic restructuring. The FSLN tried to harness global dissatisfaction with the reactionary order linked to the United States, using diplomacy to transform dependency into revolutionary solidarity. The chapter then turns to discuss the Reagan administration's use of confrontation with Nicaragua to encourage a restructuring of economic and political development in the region. The chapter looks at how the administration harnessed ideas and structures created by the revolution to undermine the alliance between socialists and capitalists while placing Nicaragua at the center of the administration's own response to the challenge of global solidarity.