Development has alleviated poverty in many countries during the 50 years since the end of World War II, yet half of mankind remains poor; a fifth are very poor Poverty is not a state of nature, but, as Stepanek shows, can be ascribed to manmade institutions that reflect self-serving and self-indulgent ideologies, poorly tested theories and policies, ожлмс weak governments, and poverty alleviation programs that are questionably designed and poorly administered Dr Stepanek asserts that poverty cannot be alleviated without challenging all of its root causes, and he shows that well-designed development strategies and foreign assistance programs can create growth and reduce poverty Western governments, international banks, and donor agencies must reexamine how they design and administer aid in general and in specific, in history and theory, and in its present and practical forms.  RodriquISBN 0275965058.