International development

International development or global development is a wide concept concerning the level of development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications such as developed country, developing country and least developed country. There are, however, many schools of thought and conventions regarding which are the exact features constituting development of a country.

Historically it has been largely synonymous with economic development. Recently it is also often used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development as well as other concepts like competitiveness, quality of life or subjective well-being.

International development is different from simple development in that it is specifically composed of institutions and policies that arose after World War II. These institutions focus on alleviating poverty and improving living conditions in previously colonised and other poor countries.

Although international relations and international trade have existed for many hundreds of years, it is only in the past century that international development theory emerged as a separate body of ideas. More specifically, it has been suggested that 'the theory and practice of development is inherently technocratic, and remains rooted in the high modernist period of political thought that existed in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War'. Throughout the 20th century, before the term international development entered common usage, four aspects were used to describe the idea:

The second half of the 20th century has been called the 'era of development'. The origins of this era have been attributed to:

International Development in its very meaning is geared towards colonies that gained independence. The governance of the newly independent states should be constructed so that the inhabitants enjoy freedom from poverty, hunger, and insecurity.

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