North and South Relations - Third World Countries | POLI 2057, Study notes of Political Science

Download North and South Relations - Third World Countries | POLI 2057 and more Study notes Political Science in PDF only on Docsity! November 2, 2009 NORTH & SOUTH RELATIONS –THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES July 11, 1999- Peter Jennings was reading nightly news and began story with incident in the Philippines. That incident included many poor people digging through garbage pit full of chemicals etc and searching for anything of use. An explosion occurred and over 300 ppl were killed. In Nigeria 250 people died in that country and on that day they were trying to extract petroleum from the underground pipes to sell on their own. An explosion occurred with these people too. These two countries are in diff parts of the world but they were both driven to death by their dire level of poverty. In our country we don’t have to face the issues of poverty as other 3 rd world countries. Yet sometimes when these travesties happen, they affect other countries too, such as us. The world cannot do without the 3rd world and we have to address their problems. What makes these developing countries the way that they are? Some argue that this idea of the 3 rd world is a myth and isn’t real. Some way we will be untouched by their problems bc of the distance between us and them that allows us to escape their problems. Dependency links us to the 3rd world countries, no matter the distance between us. World has not been successful in dealing with the problems of the 3rd world. Not because we don’t try, more because they are lacking in something known as political will. The rich countries and org’s really deep down don’t want to fix their problems. With interests at stake, it’s easier to stay out of the problem. If we really wanted to make a diff we would have to make significant sacrifices. How far do we go to find solutions? Developing countries rep a new set of nation states in the int’l system, meaning that by time it began operating in 1648, one could not count poor, developing countries among them. The problems that we deal with concerning North/South relations are a recent development. Anything new that we aren’t used to becomes more challenging and diff to solve. The # of 3 rd world countries over the years seems to have increased, level of poverty worsened, and also just as we are able to end the cold war we should be able to end developing countries problems. Charles Lane suggest that we do away with the 3rd world countries title, change the name to something else; perhaps could change the image.( Not true.) With worsening conditions, we can no longer classify all the 3rd world countries together. We need to create some sort of differentiation or levels. Third World Countries- a group of 120 or more developing countries, former colonies. These countries located in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Middle East. Simply based on your location and history, you are 3rd world. Characteristics: 1. Low standards of living November 2, 2009 2. Experience high population growth 3. Ethnic and religious diversity 4. Mono-Mineral and Mono-Crop economies- based on Euro colonization- aided in productivity of one crop benefitting the big countries that know where to go to get what they need 5. Political instability 6. High level of economic/political dependence on 1st and 2nd worlds- one cannot separate the 3rd world from global reality. They will always be tied to other worlds. 2nd world- world dominated by communist countries (Soviet Union). They are transitional societies (could be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd). Former colonies- colonialism, process by which the Euro empires dominated the smaller colonies. Third World Classification:  Newly Industrialized Countries- making progress out of 3rd world status. Include about 15-20 3rd world countries that have been able to achieve high production rates. They sell and export their products to western countries, achieved rapid economic growth, and depend heavily new MNC’s org’s, and many depend on one major mineral which becomes basis for economy. Some countries include South Korea, Brazil, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait.  4th World- those who have no hope of making their way out of poverty. Getting worse for those in the 3rd world. Usually have limited resources, land-locked (trade/transport is difficult), many have no prospect for development, and often engulfed in civil wars. Spend too much time fighting and neglecting development of resources. Includes Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta- “upright people”), Sierra Leone, Yamin, Mozambique, Malawi, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Haiti, Honduras, Cambodia, Nepal, Bhutan, Bolivia, VARUM (why) are these countries the way that they are? This remains a subject of debate. Because of the complexity of underdevelopment, there is no simple answer to it. There are so many classifications of underdevelopment (political, economical, etc). 1. Internal Argument- (Endogenous) the reason for underdevelopment could be traced to factors within these countries. The ppl themselves, the government, the level of corruption, the location, and cultural way of life, the mentality all contribute to their own downfall. The people are backwards. UN in 1993 argued that poverty is created by the countries own gov’t. Also b/c many of these countries are located in the tropics; they are bound to be lazy. They are irrational to a fault. With this background and mentality you are doomed to failure. 2. External Argument- (Exogenous) events in those countries could not explain what happens within the country. Basically for these people outside factors play a larger role in explaining 3 rd world underdevelopment. These countries were set with a goal in time and were somehow de- railed in their progress and were forced to take a different direction. That derailment took place largely because of Colonialism. Outside powers took control of these countries and took part in de-industrializing these developing countries.