1 9 7 0 s ▁when ▁it ▁propag ated ▁throughout ▁Latin ▁America , ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁Europe , ▁Africa ▁and ▁Asia . ▁However , ▁after ▁the ▁fall ▁of ▁the ▁Chile an ▁All ende ▁Government ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 3 , ▁which ▁was ▁heavily ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁dependency ▁theory , ▁critics ▁of ▁this ▁theory ▁increased ▁in ▁number . ▁The ▁theory ▁does ▁not ▁have ▁many ▁pro ponents ▁today , ▁though ▁it ▁is ▁still ▁argued ▁to ▁be ▁a ▁good ▁concept ual ▁orientation ▁to ▁the ▁global ▁division ▁of ▁wealth . ▁ ▁World - system s ▁Theory ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 8 0 s , ▁dos ▁Santos ▁transition ed ▁se am lessly ▁from ▁the ▁theory ▁of ▁dependency ▁to ▁the ▁theory ▁of ▁world - system s . ▁He ▁based ▁this ▁theory ▁on ▁his ▁works ▁from ▁Chile , ▁which ▁were ▁mostly ▁destroyed ▁by ▁the ▁government al ▁forces ▁of ▁the ▁P ino ch et ▁dict ator ship . ▁The ▁world - system s ▁theory ▁div ides ▁the ▁world ▁into ▁core ▁and ▁peri pher al ▁countries ▁on ▁the ▁basis ▁of ▁labour ▁division , ▁in ▁which ▁the ▁core ▁countries ▁focus ▁on ▁high - sk ill , ▁capital - int ensive ▁indust ries , ▁while ▁the ▁peri pher al ▁states ▁focused ▁on ▁lower - sk ill , ▁labour - int ensive ▁production , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁raw ▁material ▁extra ction . ▁Due ▁to ▁this ▁system , ▁the ▁core ▁countries ▁ex ert ▁domin ance ▁over ▁the ▁peri pher al ▁ones , ▁making ▁the ▁latter ▁dependent ▁on ▁the ▁former . ▁