ABSTRACT
Modern development policies started already 60 years ago. The establishment of the Bretton Woods institutions in 1944 and Truman’s inaugural address in 1949 were landmarks of a change of mind and approach. Prosperous countries in the North considered themselves good Samaritans by helping the countries in the South. In the following decades, West European countries tried to shift roles from being a colonizer to a supporter of development. When this new post-colonial relationship started, many Western countries expected it to be temporary. With a little help from their friends, the developing economies would ‘take off’ and become just as wealthy, stable and modern as countries in the North.
