What is a third world country definition. Are “third countries” and “third world countries” the same thing? Questions for additional material

underdeveloped states belonging predominantly to the geopolitical South. At the Bandung Conference in 1955, a movement of developing countries arose as an alternative to the North. Thus, the South acted as a new element of the world order. Instead of bipolarity, the tripolarity of the world West - East - South was proposed.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

THIRD WORLD

The term "Third World" emerged during the Cold War and was used to refer to a number of new nation-states (originally in Asia and Africa, and later in Latin America), which were not part of either the Soviet or Western blocs. Subsequently, the term was applied to economically underdeveloped states with low level industrialization and, accordingly, with a high level of poverty and numerous social problems such as the illiteracy of the population. Many of these countries were formerly colonies. European states. Although over time they gained political independence, their cultural and economic dependence on the former metropolises persisted. Often, the term "third world" is preferred to another - "developing countries", since the "third" seems to indicate the low status of states on the world stage.

Third World countries show the widest range of social, economic and political differences. Many of them are predominantly agricultural, although the extractive industry can also account for a significant share in the economy. Industrial enterprises are often owned by foreign owners who locate their production in third world countries, wanting to take advantage of a number of favorable circumstances, in particular low labor costs. Poverty of the population (which is observed even where it has been achieved, as, for example, in Mexico, high level industrialization) is exacerbated by the significant indebtedness of countries to industrialized states. However, there are exceptions. Thus, the oil-producing countries of the Middle East flourish and have significant influence on the world political stage, and a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region (for example, South Korea and Taiwan) have reached a high level of industrialization.

The political structure of the third world countries is also diverse, although liberal democratic political systems with true competition political parties for power and a wide range civil liberties are rare. In many states, unstable oligarchic regimes are in power.

See also articles « Civil rights”, “Colonialism”, “Communism”, “Liberal Democracy”, “Dependency Theory”, “Totalitarianism”.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

countries closely coexist with pre-industrial and industrial types of production, as well as production based on the latest achievements of the scientific and technological revolution. But basically the first two types predominate. The economy of all countries of the Third World is characterized by a lack of harmony in the development of sectors of the national economy, which is also explained by the fact that they have not gone through successive phases of economic development in full, as leading countries.

Most developing countries have a policy statism, those. direct state intervention in the economy in order to accelerate its growth. The lack of a sufficient amount of private investment and foreign investment forces the state to take on the functions of an investor. True, in last years in many developing countries, a policy of denationalization of enterprises has begun to be implemented - privatization, underpinned by measures to stimulate the private sector: preferential taxation, liberalization of imports and protectionism against the most important privately owned enterprises.

Despite the important common characteristics that unite developing countries, they can be conditionally divided into several groups of the same type. At the same time, it is necessary to be guided by such criteria as: the structure of the country's economy, exports and imports, the degree of openness of the country and its involvement in the world economy, some features of the state's economic policy.

Least Developed Countries

To the number least developed countries include a number of states in Tropical Africa (Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Chad,

Togo, Tanzania, Somalia, Western Sahara), Asia (Kampuchea, Laos), Latin America (Tahiti, Guatemala, Guiana, Honduras, etc.). These countries are characterized by low or even negative growth rates. The structure of the economy of these countries is dominated by the agricultural sector (up to 80-90%), although it is not able to meet domestic needs for food and raw materials. The low profitability of the main sector of the economy does not allow relying on domestic sources of accumulation for much-needed investments in the development of production, the training of a skilled workforce, the improvement of technology, etc.

The least developed countries are characterized by a weak development of the market mechanism. This is due to the routine state of agriculture (an average of 80% of the able-bodied population is employed, creating only 42% of the gross domestic product, the underdevelopment of industry, and the low purchasing power of the population). Most of the national capital, however, is concentrated in the commercial sphere. However, he prefers to occupy the niche of trade in imported goods and not invest in national production due to high degree risk.

The economy of this group of countries is characterized by the underdevelopment of the production, auxiliary infrastructure, transport network, electric power industry, communication system, banking, which does not at all contribute to attracting foreign investment and hinders the development of the economy based on meager domestic savings. Moreover, the 80-90s. there has been a trend towards a decrease in the inflow of foreign investment into their economy, which thereby becomes less open.

Does not contribute to the openness of the economy and the structure of foreign trade. All countries in this group are both exporters of agricultural products, the prices of which are most subject to fluctuations in the external market, and the largest importers of industrial products.

The demographic situation has a negative impact on the economic development of these countries. High population growth rates contribute to maintaining a low level of income, hinder the growth of purchasing power. And low agricultural productivity, combined with population growth, leads to food shortages and hunger.

In the world economy, the least developed countries take the place of the periphery, performing the functions of suppliers of raw materials and cheap labor.

Traditionally, the world has long been divided into groups of countries. There are first world countries - or the "golden billion", second world countries - many of them used to be socialist, and third world countries - or developing ones. In recent years, scientific circles have also begun to single out countries of the fourth world - these are the poorest states that cannot be called developing, because they do not develop anywhere at all, but slowly decay.

In addition to dividing countries into groups on an economic basis, it would be more correct to divide countries into 4 groups on a civilizational basis. The most intelligent, civilized, cultural countries, in which in all settlements everything is ordered, written and tested, technologies are debugged to automatism - this is the first world.

The second world is where cities have a centralized layout, but there is often no novelty and luxury, the population is not always well educated, but nevertheless quite smart and savvy, access to the main benefits of civilization like water, light, communications is present.

The third world is a huge number of countries, in principle, very different. They are united by the primitiveness and downtroddenness of the local population ( hallmark many such countries - shouting "Uh" or "Hello" at the sight of a foreigner and pointing fingers at him, which is not customary in the first and second world), people are native, wild and often primitive, villages are often characterized by medieval poverty and primitivism, and the cities are chaotic and absurd - with sidewalks clogged with vendors, dirty courtyards, streets crowded with cars. With education and money in such countries are often problems.

Fourth world countries - in which there are no basic things like light, water, telephone, food and shops, people often do not have clothes.

Now, after the classification, I will try to sort many countries into these groups. What is the first world, and where is the third?

So let's start with Europe.
1. First world. France is the classic first world. In the same category, you can safely include Belgium, Holland, Germany. The first world is also Eastern European Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as Hungary. World 1 includes Scandinavia, and other other countries of the West. Europe. Of course, only Southern Italy is in question ...

2. Second world. The classic second world is Russia, Ukraine. From Europe, this group includes Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Montenegro, Serbia, Lithuania, Belarus, Estonia (the last four countries are slightly similar in some elements to the first world, but they are still very far from it). Despite low salaries and a weak economy, Moldova can rightly be considered a second world. AT recent times China is also moving from the third to the second world, but this process is lengthy.

2+. Slovakia stands apart here, which is in a transitional stage between the second and the first world - it is stuck somewhere in the middle between them.

3. Third world. The classic third world is Egypt, India, Pakistan, Mongolia and most of the countries to the south of them. Many Arab countries, such as Syria, can also be included in this group. Interesting countries Central Asia, such as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. Being essentially the third world, they retained in their appearance some features of the second world (in which they, at least in large settlements, were under the USSR). Nevertheless, these remnants of the second world are diminishing in them, and the third is becoming more and more pronounced. The only country in the region in which elements of the second world are preserved in quantity and will remain in the future, although the country itself is rather in the third, is Kazakhstan.

3+. Some countries are on the path between the third world and the second and are completely stuck on this road with no chance of moving forward - characteristic countries for such a "Twine" - this is Turkey and Kosovo. On the same road, but somewhat closer to the third world, are Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.

It is also curious that there is one country from the third world on the European continent - this is Albania. Iran is also curious - being so far practically a perfect third world, it has a chance in a few decades to become halfway between the third and second worlds - that is, to approach Turkey, there is some tendency towards that.

I can talk about the fourth world only theoretically, I have not been to these countries yet, but it traditionally includes Zimbabwe, a Democrat. rep. Congo, Chad, Afghanistan. This is what is called - there is nowhere worse.

Here is such a division, here is such a classification. Every time you visit new country, it is very interesting in the first couple of days to classify it, and place it on one of these four shelves. Or even, in a difficult situation, hang between two shelves. :)

Which countries are considered third world countries?

The term "Third World" originated at the time cold war, in order to identify non-bloc countries that did not become part of either NATO or the communist bloc. The USA, the countries of Western Europe and their allies represented the "first world", while Soviet Union, China, Cuba and their allies were part of the "second world". This terminology offered a way of broadly categorizing the peoples of the earth into three groups, based on social, political, cultural, and economic divisions.

The group of "Third World" countries, as a rule, included many countries in Africa, Latin America, Oceania and Asia with a colonial past. Sometimes, the term was used as a synonym for the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement. In dependency theory by thinkers such as Raul Prebisch, Walter Rodney, Theotonio dos Santos and André Gunder Frank, the "third world" was associated with the world's economic division into "periphery" countries and "core" countries that dominate the former.

because of complex history evolution of meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed definition of the "third world". Some countries in the communist bloc, such as Cuba, are often viewed as "Third World" countries. Because many of these countries were poor and unindustrialized, the stereotype was created that "Third World countries" were poor countries. In addition, the term "Third World" is very often applied to newly industrialized countries such as Brazil, India and China. Historically, some countries in Europe were not part of any of the blocs and, at the same time, many of them were and remain prosperous, including Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland.

Over the past few decades since the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the term "Third World" has been used interchangeably between the least developed countries of the "Global South" and the developing countries, to describe poor nations that have sought to achieve sustainable development economy. Moreover, the term often included "second world" countries such as Laos. However, in recent years, the use of the term in this context has become less and less common.

Where did the term "third world countries" come from?

The French demographer, anthropologist and historian Alfred Sauvy, in an article published in the French magazine L "Observateur, on August 14, 1952, introduced the term "Third World" (French: Tiers Monde), referring to countries that did not were attached to neither the communist Soviet bloc nor the capitalist bloc NATO. This usage was a reference to the third estate, namely the commoners of France, who before and during the French Revolution opposed the clergy and nobles, who respectively constituted the first and second estates. wrote, "This 'third world' was ignored, exploited and despised, as was the third estate, which also wanted to be something." He associated the concept of political non-alignment with both capitalist and communist blocs.

Mao Zedong's Three Worlds Theory

The "Three Worlds Theory" developed by Mao Zedong is different from the Western "Three Worlds" or "Third World" theory. For example, in Western theory, China and India respectively belong to the second and third worlds, but in Mao's theory, China and India are part of the third world, which he defined as a world made up of exploited peoples.

Movements for the unity of the countries of the "Third World"

Maoism (Third Worldism) is political movement, which stands for the unity of the nations of the third world against the influence of the countries of the first world and for the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. The groups that are most visible in the expression and implementation of these ideas are the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Group of 77. They provide the basis for relations and diplomacy not only between third world countries, but also with first and second world countries. This idea has been criticized for covering up human rights violations and political repression from dictatorships.

General characteristics of the countries of the "third world"

Most third world countries are former colonies. After gaining independence, many of these, especially the smaller ones, faced nation- and institution-building challenges they had never faced before. Because of this general background, many of these peoples held the status of "developing" economically for most of the 20th century, and many of them continue to be at that level. Today, the term generally refers to countries that are not developed at the same level as OECD countries, and thus are still in the process of development.

In the 1980s, economist Peter Bauer proposed a competing definition of the term "third world". He argued that the use of the term of this term, in relation to a particular country, was not based on any stable economic or political criteria, but was, in the main, an arbitrary process. Most of the countries that are considered to be part of the "third world" - from Indonesia to Afghanistan - have different levels of development, from economically primitive to advanced countries, as well as from countries that have not joined any of the blocs, or are pro-Western. The dispute may also arise over parts of the US that are more like third world countries.

The only characteristic that Bauer sees as common to all Third World countries is that their governments "request and receive assistance from Western countries", which he strongly opposes. Thus the collective term "Third World" has been challenged as misleading, even during the Cold War, because it was not based on any coherent or collective identity of the countries it supposedly covers.

Financing and features of the development of the third world

During the Cold War, unaligned Third World countries were viewed as potential allies by First and Second World countries. Thus, the United States and the Soviet Union made great efforts to establish ties with these countries, offering economic and military support in order to create strategically advantageous alliances (for example, the United States of America in Vietnam or the Soviet Union in Cuba). By the end of the Cold War, many third world countries had borrowed capitalist or communist economic models and continued to receive support from their chosen side. Throughout the Cold War, and also after its end, Third World countries were the priority recipients of foreign Western aid and the focus economic development through the lens of major theories such as modernization theory and dependency theory.

By the end of the 1960s, the idea of the "Third World" embraced the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, which were considered, according to Western countries, underdeveloped on the basis of various characteristics(low rates of economic development, low life expectancy, high levels of poverty and disease, etc.). These countries have become recipients of assistance and support from governments, non-governmental organizations and individuals from wealthier countries. One popular model, known as the Rostow Stage Theory of Economic Growth, states that development occurs in 5 stages (traditional society; prerequisites for "takeoff"; "takeoff"; transition to "maturity"; era of "high mass consumption"). W. Rostow argued that "rise" is a critical stage, which is either absent in the process of development of the countries of the "third world", or with which countries are now struggling. Thus, foreign aid was essential to kick-start industrialization and economic growth in these countries.

However, despite decades of bailouts and trials of various development models (which have not been successful), the economies of many Third World countries are still dependent on developed countries and in debt. There is now a lot of discussion about why the countries of the "third world" remain poor and underdeveloped after all the effort and after so much time. Many claim that modern methods aid do not work, and also call for a reduction foreign aid(and hence dependencies) and the use of different economic theories and not just the mainstream traditional theories of the West. Historically, development and aid have failed to meet their targets. Thus, at present, the global gap between the rich and the poor is larger than ever, although not everyone agrees.

Some scholars argue the problem of the development of many "Third World" countries through socio-economic perspectives that study how individuals form organizations to realize various goals, such as economic issues. Scholars such as North and Weingast argue that modern states can be divided into natural states and open access states. Thus, open access states develop more confidently than natural states, because in them, legally binding institutions (rules of the game, customs) allow people to freely form faceless organizations that can attract large group people working or competing with each other economically. Accordingly, the greater the competition, the greater the growth and wealth. Examples of open access states are Western countries like America and Germany.

In contrast, the state (which compromises most third world) consists of political elites who try to protect their special privileges by restricting access to the ability to create organizations among individuals. These elites must rely on personal connections and threats of violence not only to maintain order, but also to recruit "desirable individuals" into their organizations. This arrangement not only weakens effective management(after all, leaders become less accountable), but also leads to weak institutions, where peace is not always ensured. Also, those who wield violent instruments may only restrain themselves out of trust or loyalty, but at the same time may resort to violence, as has happened in the past (eg Biafra v. the rest of Nigeria, Bangladesh v. Pakistan).

Over the past few decades, population growth has been largely concentrated in third world countries (which often have higher birth rates than the developed countries). As populations grow in poor countries, rural residents flock to the cities in a process of extensive urban migration that results in the creation of massive slums.

Great Divergence and Great Convergence

In many cases, there is a clear distinction between the first and third worlds. When it comes to the Global North or the Global South, for the most part they go hand in hand. People refer to the "Third World" as the South and the "First World" as the North because the Global North is richer and more developed, while the Global South is less developed and most often poor. To counter this way of thinking, some scientists began to propose the idea of changing the world dynamics, which began in the late 1980s. This idea was called the Great Convergence. Jack A. Goldstone and his colleagues put it: "in the 20th century, the Great Divergence reached its peak before World War I and continued until the early 1970s, and then, after two decades of uncertain fluctuations, in the late 1980s it was replaced by The Great Convergence, because most third world countries have achieved significantly higher rates of economic growth than most first world countries.

Others have seen a return to Cold War levels (McKinnon, 2007; Lucas, 2008), this time with significant changes between 1990-2015 in geography, the global economy, and the dynamics of relations between current and emerging world powers; without necessarily revisiting the classical sense of the terms first, second and third world, but bearing in mind which countries belong to each of these worlds, by associating them with big countries or coalitions of countries - such as the G7, the European Union, the OECD; G20, OPEC, BRICS, ASEAN; African Union and Eurasian Union.

The territory of Germany in Europe was smaller than modern, and this country had few colonies. Italy by the beginning of the 20th century had just begun to expand its colonial possessions. In Europe there were also countries without colonies at all - Austria-Hungary, Norway and Sweden.

The Russian Empire was not a colonial power in the narrow sense, but it included Poland and Finland. Their status could be compared with the British dominions, since these states had a fairly wide autonomy.

The Russian Empire also united several semi-independent Central Asian countries under its protectorate.

The rest of the world

There were many outside of Europe at that time. AT North America there were two big independent states- USA and Mexico. All South America was independent, with the exception of the territory of Guiana. political map of this continent practically coincided with the modern one. On the territory of Africa, only Ethiopia and partly Egypt remained independent - it was under the British protectorate, but was not a colony. In Asia, Japan was an independent and strong power - this one owned and Korean peninsula. China, Mongolia and Siam, while maintaining formal independence, were divided into spheres of influence of European states.

Tip 3: Which states can be called world powers

World powers are the countries with the greatest geopolitical power that can influence world politics or the politics of individual regions. World powers are divided into superpowers, great powers and regional powers.

superpowers

A superpower is a state with enormous political influence, which has economic and military superiority over other states of the world. The geopolitical position of the superpowers allows them to influence states in the most remote parts of the planet. AT modern world superpowers must have a strategic reserve nuclear weapons.

For the first time the term "superpower" was used by William Fox in 1944 in the book "Superpower". After the Second World War, three states were considered superpowers: Great Britain, the USA and the USSR. Britain soon began to lose its colonies and by 1957 lost its superpower status.

Until 1991, there were two superpowers in the world (the USSR and the USA), which were headed by the strongest military-political blocs(OVD and NATO). After the collapse of the USSR, the status of a superpower remained only with the United States. For description similar situation the term "hyperpower" was coined. But at the beginning of the 21st century, the United States continues to be the most influential state in the world, but many experts believe that the status of a superpower may be lost or has already been lost. China is gradually approaching the status of a superpower.

There is an opinion among political scientists that the era of superpowers is a thing of the past. The current world is becoming one with several centers of influence and the growing role of potential and regional superpowers. Potential superpowers now include China, Brazil, the European Union, India and Russia.

Great powers

Great powers are states that, by virtue of their political influence play a decisive role in the global geopolitical situation. This name is unofficial, it appeared after the Napoleonic wars and was introduced into official circulation by Leopold von Ranke.

AT recent history five countries - members of the UN Security Council had the status of great powers. All the great powers have participated in most of the world's conflicts and are nuclear powers.

There are three criteria by which a country can be given the status of a great power. These are its resource potential, "interests" (depends on the territory to which the influence of the power extends) and international status.

There are 10 great powers in the modern world: USA, China, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, France, Brazil and Great Britain.

Regional powers

Regional powers are a non-legal name for states that, due to their economic and political potential, play leading role in system international relations in individual macroregions. At the same time, they do not have much influence in world politics, with the exception of those regional powers that are also great powers.

There are 24 regional powers in the modern world. In Middle East Asia, these are Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel. In East Asia - China, Japan and South Korea. In South Asia - India and Pakistan. In Southeast Asia - Indonesia. In America, the USA and Canada. In Latin America, Brazil and Mexico. AT North Africa- Egypt. in Western and Central Africa– Nigeria. AT South Africa- South Africa. AT Western Europe– UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and France. In Eastern Europe - Russia. In Oceania, Australia.