This theoretical essay discusses the nature of the relationships between countries in the international system and their respective implications on the management of programs and projects in the field of international cooperation and development (ICD), according to the postulates and principles of social management. We start from the premise that the ICD actions implicate management processes and are influenced by the idea the donor country has of development, as well as its reasons for cooperating. The Science of Administration and, in particular, social management, has much to contribute for the understanding of the results and review of management practices that follow actions performed by ICD. The practice of imposing and overrating “technical knowledge”, instead of “local knowledge”, technical and non-technical, considered to be inferior, has been causing disastrous results, politically, economically and socially.
International cooperation and development; South-South Cooperation; Social Management; Construction of knowledge; Ecology of knowledge