One of the key questions in today’s world is why some countries and some regions are richer and/or have a higher level of wellbeing than others. A great disparity is found across developing regions as well as between developed and developing countries. To better understand this puzzle, the course focuses on East Asia and Latin America, which were at similar levels of development as recently as the early 1980s but are now at very different levels, and on the poorer region of Sub-Saharan Africa. Of course, each region is quite heterogeneous, so we look at both regional averages and at the experiences of some individual countries. Explanations for the differences – and some similarities – are sought in the political, economic, and social arenas within countries and in the external environment in which they operate. Since China has become a very important component of the external environment for developing countries, China plays a double role in the course. We study it both as a rapidly developing nation in East Asia and as a key trade and investment partner for others.