ABSTRACT
The foundations of the existing international economic institutions were laid during and immediately after World War II. They reflect the determination of the developed market economies to create favorable conditions for their speedy reconstruction after the war and the achievement of renewed and continued prosperity. More specifically, the developing countries (DCs) realized that the purposes of the existing international economic order would have to be broadened to include development. Many observers of the international political scene in the 1950s and 1960s believed that many of the DCs’ problems were largely a function of their political status. The resolutions adopted at Algiers represent the formal recognition by the policymakers of the DCs that their problems are not only a function of their political status but also of their economic status. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
