Enabling a significant portion of the world's population to find a way out of poverty is one of the great challenges of our time and is therefore the subject of discussion in this book. The success of Western policy is largely measured by its own standards in terms of whether it can significantly improve the welfare of people in the Third World, ensuring that there is no material deprivation and that people can participate in culture and politics. The book poses the following essential questions: How has the welfare of people in Third World countries changed in the age of globalization? Why have some countries and regions remained in poverty, while others have managed to escape it, and still others have become prosperous? What role do the state and the market play in this? Can these developments be influenced from the outside, for example, through development cooperation?.