This chapter discusses the basic mechanism of global industrialization with reference to how local resource constraints were eased through the introduction of modern technology and institutions in core regions of the world. The adoption of a multipolar perspective implies a degree of departure from the existing literature. The chapter reviews the early modern European economic development from a reciprocal comparative perspective. According to Eric Jones and others, Europe as a region achieved a series of major technological and institutional innovations, worth calling the 'European miracle', between 1400 and 1800. In describing postwar economic development up to 1980, Harry Oshima stressed the common socio-environmental characteristics of monsoon Asia, stretching from East and Southeast Asia to South Asia. The character of the Asian path originates from the unique environment, with differences between East Asia and South Asia. The chapter speculates whether ongoing industrialization will be a threat to global environmental sustainability.