Second World - Richer colonies like America and Australia
Third World - Poorer countries
Fourth World - Added later, the poorest countries which were standing still or declining in economic growth.
Problems with the System:
From a Western European perspective (so America is a second world country!)
Has no clear place for Communist countries, such as the former USSR, which was quite well developed but not part of western Europe or a colony. They were added unsatisfactorily to the second world.
North/South Divide
In 1971, the Brandt report on the state of world development was published.
It made a simpler division: economically wealthier, industrialised countries vs. less mature and largely agricultural ones.
A line called the North-South divide was drawn on a world map to make the difference clear.
The development indicator used was GNP per capita.
Problems:
Economics have become more varied, and it's just too simple.
LEDC and MEDC
LDC = Less Developed Country MDC = More Developed Country
Problems:
Development is not only economic, but also cultural and to do with society.
Negative to suggest that a country had a low level culture just because it wasn't very economically developed.
So, changed to: LEDC = Less Economically Developed Country MEDC = More Economically Developed Country
Problems:
World order has changed tremendously since the late 20th century.
Globalisation means that there are more contacts and trade between countries than ever before.
Some LEDCs are growing more rapidly than developed countries.
A new catagory was introduced to cover these quickly developing countries (e.g. Taiwain, Singapore, India)
NIC = Newly Industrialising Country
Still Problems Though:
Middle class growing in many poor regions.
The capital cities, along with surrounding cities are often indistinguishable from any MEDC city.
So, the LEDC/MEDC division is becoming less useful.
The Five-Fold Division System Based on Wealth
More recently suggested:
Rich Industrialising Countries
Oil-Exporting Countries
Newly Industrialising Countries
Formerly Centrally Planned Economies
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
Rich Industrialising Countries The UK would be classed as this; we are still wealthy, but our maufacturing industry has declined over recent decades.
Oil Exporting Countries
There is a great spread of wealth in the society.
Huge amounts of money are made from exporting oil.
Rich people and companies are investing their money in businesses abroad, for example some UK football clubs have been bought by Middle Eastern oil billionaires.
The majority of people remain poor in oil-exporting countries, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Venezuela
Some profit is used for development projects, so eventually everyone will benefit.
Newly Industrialising
Similar to NICs and LEDCs, or third and fourth world countries.
Formally Centrally Planned
Covers a wide variety of countries:
Russia still has considerable Communist influence.
Its old 'allies' like Poland and the Czech Republic are becoming more like Western European countries and are part of the EU.
China still has its Communist government, but it is one of the world's fastest growing economies, with a phenominal industrialisation speed.
Heavily Indebted
A reason why countries can't move their economies forward is because of the burthen of debt.
They have borrowed large sums of money from organisations like the World Bank, but earning enough to repay the debt with interest is taking funds which should be used for development projects.