ABSTRACT
On 8 September 2000, representatives from 191 nations gathered in the United Nations General Assembly to discuss the joint actions that could be taken on a global scale to address some of the world's most pressing problems. The economic conditions seemed to be in place for a major attack on poverty and economic deprivation. As a whole, the world economy was growing at an annual rate of 4.7 per cent, the highest it had seen since the 1970s (IMF, 2008). East Asia was recovering robustly from its 1997 financial crisis, while India and China seemed to be embarking on development processes capable of bringing billions of people into modern economic prosperity. While some signs of trouble were present – most notably a deepening economic crisis in Argentina, a country that had long been seen as one of the most successful implementers of market reforms in the developing world – these appeared to be exceptions to a generalized trend of growing prosperity.
