[boomboomsubban]

>Some of the wealthiest countries are deprived of natural resources (Israel, Singapore, Monaco, and others)

Not exactly great examples. All three contain excellent natural resources, ports on major trading routes, that drive or drove their economy.

[cryptonector]

That's not oil, land, water, etc. By your definition almost every country has tons of natural resources, and yet results are so disparate.

Lots of other countries have strategic trading locations: Malaysia, Indonesia, India, South Africa, Argentina (well, not since the Panama canal, I guess), Egypt, Saudi, Iran, and so on.

Maybe, just maybe, ideas matter?

"People, ideas, materiel. In that order!" - John Boyd, COL, USAF.

[boomboomsubban]

>By your definition alm every country has tons of natural resources, and yet results are so disparate.

Not really, being the easternmost port on the Mediterranean and southernmost point of Asia are fairly special things. Add in the almost city-state nature of those examples, and they do noting to prove your point.