Sentence:  The capacity of intellectuals and members of the new professional classes to contribute creatively to national <WSD>development</WSD> is likely to be destroyed by a constraining sense of inferiority toward both their own political class and their colleagues and professional counterparts in the West . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage)