The world may expect great things from India, but as extensive reporting reveals, Indians themselves turn out to be deeply skeptical about their country's potential. That attitude, plus New Delhi's dysfunctional foreign-policy bureaucracy, prevent long-term planning of the sort China has mastered -- and are holding India back.

Sub-Saharan Africa's GDP has grown five percent a year since 2000 and is expected to grow even faster in the future. Although pessimists are quick to point out that this growth has followed increases in commodities prices, the success of recent political reforms and the increased openness of African societies give the region a good chance of sustaining its boom for years to come.

For the U.S. economy to reach its full potential, argues Edward Conard, Washington should decrease federal spending and ease government regulation. Fareed Zakaria demurs, contending that structural reform and government investment are what the U.S. economy needs most.

Germany seems like Europe's lone island of fiscal stability, but trouble lurks under its impressive export-fueled growth.

According to Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson's Why Nations Fail, economic development hinges on a country's political institutions.

Brazil's economy depends too much on high commodity prices, and as demand falls, so may Brazil.

Increasing inequality in the United States has long been attributed to unstoppable market forces.

The United States' commitment to helping treat HIV patients is limiting Washington's leverage over recipient countries and undermining other development goals.

Democratic institutions cannot be set up easily; they are likely to emerge only when certain social and cultural conditions exist.

Trade problems are an underlying cause of the financial crisis. To truly revive the world economy, a new trade consensus is necessary.

Whatever the economic gains under Putin, they would have been greater under a democratic regime.

The former chief economist of the Venezuelan National Assembly argues that despite Hugo Chavez's pledge to fight poverty, the Venezuelan president's economic policies have hurt the poor most of all.

Conventional wisdom has long assumed that economic liberalization undermines repressive regimes. Recent events, however, suggest that savvy autocrats have learned how to cut the cord between growth and freedom, enjoying the benefits of the former without the risks of the latter. Washington and international lenders should take note.

These teaching notes, by author and CFR Senior Fellow John Campbell, feature discussion questions and additional projects for educators to supplement the use of the CFR book Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink in the classroom. In this book, Ambassador Campbell examines the country's postcolonial past and offers policy options for the United States to help promote political, social, and economic development in Nigeria.

This comprehensive book explores the currency problems that developing countries face and offers sound, practical advice for policymakers on how to deal with them.