ABSTRACT
The path to development in the postwar era was more advantageous for some countries than others. The process was not easy even for these success stories. South Korea was completely devastated by the Korean War (1950–53) and forced to rebuild from the ground up while maintaining a substantial military budget to deter an aggressive North Korea. The extent to which nations can overcome these centrifugal forces will play a key factor in determining their success in joining the ranks of the industrialized world. The World Bank projects that despite its optimism on the long-term effects of policy reform in the developing world, the distribution of the benefits from liberalization will be uneven. Strategic and geopolitical importance to either the United States or Soviet Union was a key factor in some countries’ ability to develop. New barriers to export-led growth also reflect the downgrading of cheap labor as a source of economic power.
