ROOT OF ALL EVIL



If Third World countries are the poorest on earth, then First World must be the richest. Is there such a thing as Second World countries? Are there any official ways of separating the groups? Lily, Swansea, Wales The original distintion among First, Second, and Third Worlds (modelled on the old French Estates) was this: First World: Developed industrial capitalist countries such as Britain, France and the US. Second World: Developed industrial socialist (i.e., Marxist-Leninist) countries such as the USSR, Poland, and Romania. Third World: Underdeveloped countries. To this categorisation was added the Fourth World: Underdeveloped countries with few, if any, natural resources. Fragano Ledgister, Atlanta, USA The First and Second World countries were originally the two sides in the Cold War (in whichever order you choose). The Third World countries were those unaligned at the time. The term has outlived it's original meaning. David Laturner, Bracknell, Berkshire The Second World was usually called the New World. Today we'd call it North and South America. Mike Burton, Twickenham, UK The First World was the capitalist countries, the Second World the Socialist countries. The Third World were the non-aligned countries, most of whom were poor, so it became a synonym for the "undeveloped" nations. Most people now use the expression "South" since most countries in the Southern hemisphere are poor. John Orford, Balingasag, Philippines I'm not sure where the first to third world terminology came from, but at school we were told to use "developed" and "less developed" countries. This is more politically correct and gets around the problem. Adam Powell, Portsmouth, UK The term was coined when the industrialised world was divided into essentially 2 blocs - the capitalist and communist worlds. Then there was the third world - the undeveloped and largely unaligned countries. So there were never really first and second worlds. Keith, London, UK I think I am right in saying that the former communist states of the Eastern bloc are/were deemed 'second world' countries, as well as China and North Korea (NK now I believe classisified as 'first world). Although I also believe this is now regarded as a somewhat outdated nomenclature/classification system. Jane Evans, London, UK The original distinction was between the Old World and the New World, and was not based on relative wealth. The Third World was invented to distinguish poorer/underdeveloped/developing/ (the acceptable term changes over time)countries from the richer European / North American countries.



The trifold distinction does not work well economically when the fastest growth has been in some previously less developed countries like the tiger economies, and some others are among the poorest on earth. The latter - now the Fourth World - are recognised as having peculiar problems that distinguish them from even the slowest developing Third World.



Unsurprisingly, the terms have been appropriated for different purposes, (notably in using the Third World to mean the non-aligned countries - neither in the USA or Soviet blocs) and it is unlikely that any precise definition is respected in practice. Jim Williamson, Bearsden, United Kingdom I seem to remember reading that "Second World" countries were those which lay behind the Iron Curtain at the time when this terminology was coined. Peter Livingstone, Copenhagen, Denmark I believe the 'Second World' was the communist countries, though the phrase was never widely used. Ro Thorpe, Esposende, Portugal Going back to A-Level geography, we were taught that although the First, Second and Third World lables were outdated in favour of Economically More Developed Countries and Econimically Less Developed Countries (which have since become outdated), a Second World country was a former Communist country such as Russia (especially in the late 80's/ early 90's). Graeme, Nottingham, UK Second World countries were the Soviet Bloc - which shows how outdated the terms have become.



First World countries are (roughly) "The North" and Third World countries are "The South" as any Guardian reader should know. Darren, Lancaster, UK I beg to differ with all the other 1st 2nd and 3rd world theorists. It came from a speech at the UN where it was claimed "A third of the world" was living in poverty hence the low economic status of that Third (of the ) World. Jim Massey, Dubai UAE Jane Evans suggests that North Korea is now classified as "first world". I was under the impression it classified as "different planet"... Barry Toogood, Epsom, UK The French for "Third World" is "Le Tiers Monde". This does not mean "third" in the sense of a number three in a sequence, but "third" in the sense of "one third of something".



When the phrase was coined, it referred to that 33% of the world which was considered to be in poverty and in need of aid. The English translation is misleading, but there is not, and never has been, a First or Second World. Toby Smith, Farnborough England The less developed countries, collectively called the Third World, are not poor. They are broke. Many have vast natural resources, unused electrical generating capabilities, and weather that would allow three crops per year. Many factors contributed to this situation. Unfair international trade, rampant corruption including bribes paid by European and North American companies, under-educated populations, etc., making up a very long list. This situation can be changed. Vide South Korea, for example. C. Alexander Brown, Rockcliffe Park Canada The Second World originally referred to the Soviet Bloc. Recently, the concept has been re-developed by economist Parag Khanna to refer to countries that have substantial economies but do not belong to the Big Three (the US, the EU, and China). These countries include: Turkey, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Algeria, Russia, possibly India and South Africa. Successful nonaligned countries plus the resource-rich. David Null, Emeritus Professor, California State Polytechnic University, USA While there is no precise definition of the "first" or "rich" world, the World Bank does categorize countries as high, upper, and lower middle, as well as low income. High income countries are thereby defined as countries with a Gross National Income per capita of US$11,116 or more. According to the World Bank, the following 60 countries were categorized as high income economies as of 2007. The term "first world" refers to countries that are democracies, which are technologically advanced, and whose citizens have a high standard of living. The terms First World, Second World, and Third World were used to divide the nations of Earth into three broad categories. The three terms did not arise simultaneously. After World War II, people began to speak of the NATO and Warsaw Pact countries as two major blocs, often using such terms as the "Western Bloc" and the "Eastern Bloc". The two "worlds" were not numbered. It was eventually pointed out that there were a great many countries that fit into neither category, and in 1952 French demographer Alfred Sauvy coined the term "Third World" to describe this latter group; retroactively, the first two groups came to be known as the "First World" and "Second World. There were a number of countries that did not fit comfortably into this neat definition of partition, including Switzerland, Sweden, and the Republic of Ireland, who chose to be neutral. Finland was under the Soviet Union's sphere of influence but was not communist, nor was it a member of the Warsaw Pact. Yugoslavia adopted a policy of neutrality, and was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement. Austria was under the United States' sphere of influence, but in 1955, when the country became a fully independent republic, it did so under the condition that it remain neutral. Turkey and Greece, both of which joined NATO in 1952, were not predominantly in Western Europe. Spain did not join NATO until 1982, towards the end of the Cold War and after the death of the authoritarian dictator Francisco Franco. In recent years, as many "developing" countries have industrialized, the term Fourth World has been coined to refer to countries that have "lagged behind" and still lack industrial infrastructure. In contrast, countries that were previously considered developing countries and that now have a more advanced economy, yet not fully developed, are grouped under the term Newly-industrialized countries or NIC. Some nations have developed their own classification scheme consisting of the "Third World" and the "Two-Thirds World". This system is similar to the former in that it also reflects economic status or behaviour. In terms of material resources, the "Third World" takes just one third of the pie, while the "Two-Thirds World" takes two-thirds of the pie. Viren Arora, New Delhi, India First world countries, for instance, are Russia, USA, EU etc. China is unique becuase they are poor at the same time they have one of the best economies in the world. Second are South American and third are African and Asia (some). The best technologies first world countries buy is from some second world countries. Champion, Keyport, United States The first, second, third world idea was first put forword by a French economist Alfred Sauvy, who used the term Trier monde. The closest meaning in english is the (originally Norman French) insurance/legal term third party which implies the innocent but powerless party in an accident. The first world was the basically capitalist nations (USA/NATO), the second the command economies (USSR, China) and the third world everyone else just trying to survive. Steve, Consett, UK I may be swimming against the tide here but my definition, for which I cannot give a source, so it must be mine is; Surely the Old World is the historic countries that developed our first arts and sciences - Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, Roman Empire, China and some smaller well developed societies, Thus the New World is those countries colonised by Old World countries such as North and South America, Australasia,some other countries who contribute to modern high technology and high art. Thus the Third World are all other countries that do not fall into the other two definitions. Gerry Hodgson, Tauranga New Zealand  I beg to differ with all the other 1st 2nd and 3rd world theorists. It came from a speech at the UN where it was claimed "A third of the world" was living in poverty hence the low economic status of that Third (of the ) World.  The First World was the capitalist countries, the Second World the Socialist countries. The Third World were the non-aligned countries, most of whom were poor, so it became a synonym for the "undeveloped" nations. Most people now use the expression "South" since most countries in the Southern hemisphere are poor. Akpan Sunday Akpan, Akwa Ibom Nigeria Third World countries are often countries that were colonised by another country in the past. They are generally poor and are not industrialised and technologically advanced as the developed countries. The term was coined by an economist, Alfred Sauvy in an article in the French magazine LObservateur in 1952 and gained widespread supremacy during the cold war to define countries which were unaligned with either the Capitalist NATO Bloc (constituting the First World) or the Communist Soviet Bloc (representing the second world). With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the term Second World fell out of use and the meaning of First World now include all developed countries while Third World is now used for the economically underdeveloped countries of Asia, Africa,Oceania and Latin America. Angela Ajodo-Adebanjoko, Abuja Nigeria



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