In 1964, the African nation of Zambia and the East Asian country of South Korea were at roughly equivalent levels of development. When Zambia achieved its independence in 1964, its prospects appeared far more promising than those of South Korea. Zambia was rich in copper, and its newly elected president, Kenneth Kaunda, was popular at home and respected abroad.

South Korea, in contrast, had almost no resources, was ruled by a military dictatorship, and depended heavily on American aid that was being cut back. More than five decades later, the two countries could not be more different.

Zambia's economy failed badly, and by the mid 1990s the average Zambian had barely half the income he had at independence. Zambians voted Kaunda out of office amid unrest and food riots, and the failures were compounded by the AIDS epidemic that swept Africa in the 1990s. While conditions have improved somewhat since then, Zambia still has one of the lowest standards of living in the world.