Imperialism and Unequal Development (1977) by Marxist scholar Samir Amin, offers an unflinching structural analysis of the global capitalist system, exposing how imperialism entrenches dependency and underdevelopment in the periphery while securing super-profits in the metropole. Amin dissects the mechanisms by which the international division of labor, unequal exchange, and extraction of surplus value enforce a permanent state of subjugation upon the Third World. Crucially, Amin identifies Kampuchea as a key example of a nation attempting to defy this global order by pursuing radical self-reliance, severing the exploitative circuits of imperialist trade, and rejecting economistic orthodoxy. With passages underscoring that the “center of gravity of global surplus extraction had shifted to the periphery,” Amin’s analysis affirms Kampuchea’s revolutionary path as not only justified but necessary to resist a world system whose very survival depends on the endless reproduction of inequality.