First World

First World Countries

The terms First World, Second World, and Third World were used to divide nations 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".^{[1][2] [3]}

Some countries did not fit into these partitions, 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.^{[citation needed]} Yugoslavia adopted a policy of neutrality, and was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement.^{[citation needed]} Austria was under the United States' sphere of influence, but in 1955 the country became a fully independent republic under the condition that it remain neutral.^{[citation needed]} Turkey and Greece both joined NATO in 1952, but are 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.^{[citation needed]}

Definition

After World War II the world split into two large geopolitical blocs. During the Cold War, the term First World was highly used and was politically, socially and economically relevant. The term First World is now slightly outdated and has no official definition, however it is generally thought of as the capitalist, industrial, developed countries aligned with the United States after World War II. This definition basically included North America, Western Europe, Australia and Japan.^[4] In today's society the First World is seen as countries who have the most advanced economies, the greatest influence, the highest standard of living, and the greatest technology.^{[citation needed]} After the Cold War these countries included member states of NATO, US aligned states, neutral countries who were developed and industrialized, and former British colonies.Countries were also placed into the First World based on how civilized the country is. According to Nations Online the member countries of NATO after the Cold War include ^[5]

• Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, West Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States

The US aligned countries include^{[citation needed]}

• Israel, Japan, and South Korea

The neutral countries include^{[citation needed]}

• Austria, Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland

And the former British Colonies aslo included in the First World are^{[citation needed]}

• Australia, and New Zealand

Here is a list that is based on the map at the top:

Rank	Country / Territory	Population	Date Last Updated	% of World Population	Source	Area (km2 )	Capital	Largest city
1	United States	307,928,000	November 14, 2009	4.53%	Official USA Population clock	9,826,675	Washington DC	New York City
2	Japan	127,560,000	October 1, 2009	1.88%	Official Japan Statistics Bureau estimate	377,873	Tokyo	Tokyo
3	Germany	82,002,000	December 31, 2008	1.21%	Federal Statistical Office	357,021	Berlin	Berlin
4	Turkey	71,517,100	December 31, 2008	1.05%	Turkish Statistical Institute estimate	783,562	Ankara	Istanbul
5	France [6]	65,073,482	January 1, 2009	0.96%	Official INSEE estimate The figure for France without the overseas collectivities is 64,303,482.	674,843	Paris	Paris
6	United Kingdom	61,634,599	January 1, 2009	0.91%	Eurostat estimate	244,820	London	London
7	Italy	60,157,214	April 2009	0.88%	Official ISTAT estimate	301,338	Rome	Rome
8	South Korea	48,333,000		0.71%	UN estimate	100,140	Seoul	Seoul
9	Spain	45,967,632	October 1, 2009	0.68%	Official INE estimate	504,030	Madrid	Madrid
10	Canada	33,843,000	November 14, 2009	0.5%	Official Canadian Population clock	9,984,670	Ottawa	Toronto
11	Taiwan[7]	23,069,345	June 30, 2009	0.34%	Official National Statistics Taiwan estimate	36,191	Taipei	Taipei
12	Australia[8]	22,054,000	November 14, 2009	0.32%	Official Australian Population clock	7,617,930	Canberra	Sydney
13	Netherlands	16,573,500	November 14, 2009	0.24%	Official Netherlands population clock	41,526	Amsterdam	Amsterdam
14	Greece	11,257,285	January 1, 2009	0.17%	Eurostat estimate	131,990	Athen	Athen
15	Belgium	10,754,528	January 1, 2009	0.16%	Eurostat estimate	30,528	Brussels	Brussels
16	Portugal	10,627,250	January 1, 2009	0.16%	Eurostat estimate	92,345	Lisbon	Lisbon
17	Sweden	9,325,429	September 30, 2009	0.14%	Statistics Sweden	449,964	Stockholm	Stockholm
18	Austria	8,355,260	January 1, 2009	0.12%	Eurostat estimate	83,872	Vienna	Vienna
19	Switzerland	7,753,600	August 31, 2009	0.11%	Official Switzerland Statistics estimate	41,284	Bern	Zürich
20	Israel [9]	7,472,700	September 30, 2009	0.11%	Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics	22,070	Jerusalem	Jerusalem
21	Denmark	5,532,531	September 30, 2009	0.081%	Statistics Denmark	43,098	Copenhagen	Copenhagen
22	Finland [10]	5,349,800	November 14, 2009	0.079%	Official Finnish Population clock	338,424	Helsinki	Helsinki
23	Norway [11]	4,845,100	November 14, 2009	0.071%	Official Norwegian Population clock	385,252	Oslo	Oslo
24	Ireland	4,459,300	April 1, 2009	0.065%	Irish Central Statistics Office estimate	70,273	Dublin	Dublin
25	New Zealand	4,315,800	June 30, 2009	0.063%	"|Population Estimates as at 30 June 2009	268,680	Wellington	Auckland
26	Cyprus [12]	793,963	January 1, 2009	0.012%	Eurostat estimate	9,251	Nicosia	Nicosia
27	Cape Verde	506,000		0.007%	UN estimate	4,033	Praia	Praia
28	Luxembourg	493,500	January 1, 2009	0.007%	Eurostat estimate	2,586	Luxembourg	Luxembourg
29	Malta	413,627	January 1, 2009	0.006%	Eurostat estimate	316	Valletta	Birkirkara
30	Iceland	319,246	July 1, 2009	0.005%	Statistics Iceland	103,001	Reykjavik	Reykjavik
31	Andorra	86,000		0.001%	UN estimate	468	Andorra la Vella	Andorra la Vella
32	Liechtenstein	35,593	January 1, 2009	0.0005%	[1]	160	Vaduz	Schaan
33	Monaco	33,000		0.0005%	UN estimate || 1.95 || Monaco || Monaco
34	San Marino	30,800	January 1, 2008	0.0005%	[2]	61.2	City of San Marino	Dogana
35	Vatican City	800		0.00002%	UN estimate	0,44	Vatican City	Vatican City
	Total	1,058,453,184		15.5%		32,928,275.64		Tokyo

Human Development Index

Global Human Development Indeces

The Human Development Index is a worldwide organization where different indicators are used to classify countries based on their developmental status. Statistics like GDP, GNP, Literacy, and Education are combined to form a list of countries ranging from very high human development to low human development.^[13] The countries with very high human development rating are said to be the most developed and industrialized countries in the world. If we base the classification of the First World on the definition above, the Human Development Index is a good indicator in distinguishing First World countries. Hence, according to the Human Development Index thirty eight countries are ranked as having very high human devlopment. Most of the countries on this list coincide with the data on countries listed in Nations Online. The countries that are on the Human Development Index but not on the list above include^{[citation needed]}

• Finland, Liechtenstien, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Andorra, Slovenia, Kuwait, Cyprus, Qatar, Czech Republic, Barbados, Malta, United Arab Emirates, and Brunei Darussalam.

Variations in definitions

Since the end of the Cold War, the original definition of First World is no longer necessarily applicable. There are varying definitions of the First World, however they follow the same idea. John D. Daniels, past president of the Academy of International Business, defines the First World to be consisting of "high-income industrial countries."^[14] Scholar and Professor George J. Bryjak defines the First World to be the "modern, industrial, capitalist countries of North America and Europe." ^[15] L. Robert Kohls, former director of training for the U.S. Information Agency and the Meridian International Center in Washington, uses First World and "fully developed" as synonyms. ^[16]

Three World Model

NATO Countries

The terms First World, Second World, and Third World were used to divide the world's nations into three categories. The model did not emerge to its end state all at once. The complete overthrow of the status quo post-World War II, known as the Cold War, left two superpowers vying for ultimate global supremacy. They created two camps, known as blocs. These blocs formed the basis of the concepts of the First and Second Worlds. ^[17]

Early in the Cold War era, NATO and the Warsaw Pact were created by the United States and The Soviet Union, respectively. They were also referred to as the "Western Bloc" and the "Eastern Bloc." The circumstances of these two blocks were so different that they were essentially two "worlds," however they were not numbered.^[18][19][20]

In 1952, the French demographer Alfred Sauvy, coined the term Third World in reference to the three estates in pre-revolutionary France.^[21] The first two estates being the nobility and clergy and everybody else comprising the third estate.^[21] He compared the capitalist world(i.e. First World) to the nobility and the communist world(i.e. Second World) to the clergy. Just as the third estate comprised of everybody else, Sauvy called the Third World all the countries that were not in this Cold War division, i.e. the unaligned and uninvolved states in the "East-West Conflict."^[21][22] With the coining of the term Third World directly, the first two groups came to be known as the "First World" and "Second World," respectively. Here the three world system emerged.^[3]

However, Shuswap Chief George Manuel believes the Three World Model to be outdated. In his 1974 book The fourth world: an Indian reality he describes the emergence of the Fourth World while coining the term. The fourth world refers to "nations," e.g. cultural entities and ethnic groups, of indigenous people who do not compose states in the traditional sense.^[23] Rather, they live within or across state boundaries (see First Nations). One example are the American Indians of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. ^[23]

Post Cold War

With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Eastern bloc ceased to exist; with it, all applicability of the term Second World. ^[24] The definitions of the First World and Third World changed slightly, yet generally described the same concepts.

Relationships with the other worlds

In the Past

During the Cold War era, the relationships between the First World with the Second World and with the Third World were very rigid. The First World and Second World were at constant odds with one another via the tensions between their two cores, the United States and the Soviet Union, respectively. The Cold War, by virtue of its name, was a primarily idealogical struggle between the First and Second Worlds, or more specifically the U.S. and the Soviet Union. ^[25] Multiple doctrines and plans dominated Cold War dynamics including the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan (from the U.S) and the Molotov Plan (from the Soviet Union). ^{[25] [26][27]} The extent of the odds between the two worlds is evident in Berlin - which was then split into East and West. In order to stop their citizens in East Berlin from having too much exposure to Western and Capitalistic wealth and happiness, the Soviet Union put up the Berlin Wall within the actual city. ^[28]

The relationships of the First World with the Third World are characterized by the very definition of the Third World. Because countries of the Third World were noncommital and non-aligned with neither the First World or the Second World, they were targets for recruitment. In the quest for expanding their sphere of influence, the United States [core of the First World] tried to establish democracy and capitalism in the Third World. In addition, because the Soviet Union [core of the Second World] also wanted to expand, the Third World often became sites for proxy wars.

The Domino Theory

Some examples include Vietnam and Korea. Success lay with the First World if at the end of the war the country became capitalistic and democratic; with the Second World if the country became communist. Both Korea and Vietnam became communist.^{[29] [30]} The Domino Theory largely governed United States policy regarding the Third World and their rivalry with the Second World.^[31] In light of the Domino Theory, the U.S. saw winning the proxy wars in the Third World as a measure of the "credibility of US commitments all over the world." ^[32]

Currently

The movement of people and information largely characterizes the inter-world relationships in the present day.^[33] A majority of breakthroughs and innovation originate in Western Europe and the U.S. and later their effects permeate globally. As judged by the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, most of the "Top 30 Innovations of the Last 30 Years" were from former First World countries (e.g. the U.S. and countries in Western Europe). ^[34]

Global distribution of Malaria risk.

The disparity between knowledge in the First World as compared to the Third World is evident in healthcare and medical advancements. Deaths from water-related illnesses have largely been eliminated in "wealthier nations," while they are still a "major concern in the developing world." ^[35] Widely treatable diseases in the developed countries of the First World, malaria and tuberculosis needlessly claim many lives in the developing countries of the Third World. 900,000 people die from malaria each year and combating malaria accounts for 40% of health spending in many African countries.^[36] Malaria as well as other diseases already conquered in the First World, wreak havoc in the Third World, trapping "communities in a downward spiral of poverty." ^[36] However, many First World countries are making plans to help Third World countries gain access to information and advancements. U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to "end deaths by malaria by 2015" by achieving "universal access to proven, low-cost malaria treatment and prevention efforts." ^[37]

The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recently announced that the first Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) will be available as soon as the summer of 2010. These include non-Latin domains such as Chinese, Arabic, and Russian. This is one way that the flow of information between the First and Third Worlds may become more even. ^[38]

The movement of information and technology from the First World to various Third World countries has created a general "aspir[ation] to First World living standards." ^[33] The Third World has lower living standards as compared to the First World. ^[39]Information about the comparatively higher living standards of the First World come through television, commercial advertisements and foreign visitors to their countries. ^[33] This exposure causes two changes: a) living standards in some Third World countries rises and b) this exposure creates hopes and many from Third World countries immigrate - both legally and illegally - to these First World countries in hopes to attain that living standard and prosperity.^[33] In fact, this immigration is the "main contributor to the increasing populations of U.S. and Europe." ^[33] While these immigrations have greatly contributed to globalization, they have also precipitated trends like Brain drains and problems with repatriation. They have also created immigration and governmental burden problems for the countries (i.e. First World) to which people are immigrating to. ^[33]

Environmental impact

One of the most common problems between third and first world countries is focused on the treatment of the environment.^{[citation needed]} First world countries have more time and resources to spend on environmentally friendly products, means of production, and ecological laws. Although the environment is an extremely important issue, proponents of the third world claim these countries do not have the money, time, or needed resources to improve their environmental practices. They focus first on issues that are more pertinent to their lives such as combating hunger, finding paid jobs, and improving health care and education. As long as there is a large inequality gap between first and third world countries, the environment will always be disagreed upon and mostly improved by first world funding.^{[citation needed]}

CO2 emissions per capita

It has been argued that the most important human population problem for the world is not the high rate of population increase in certain Third World countries, but rather the "increase in total human impact." ^[33] The per-capita impact - the resources consumed and the wastes created by each person - is varied globally; the highest being in the First World and the lowest in the Third World: inhabitants of the U.S., Western Europe and Japan consume 32 times as much resources and put out 32 times as much wastes than those in the Third World. ^[33] Also, for example, first world countries, such as America, Australia, Japan, Canada are producing the most CO2 in the world, contributing to the greenhouse gas emissions in a massive way. These first world countries use natural resources until near depletion occurs; this happens because the country has the wealth to buy these products. There are the exceptions, first world countries like Norway, Sweden, and Germany have worked with the environment and benefitted economically from being environmentally sustainable.^{[citation needed]}

International Relations

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Until the recent past, little attention was paid to the interests of Third World countries. This is because most international relations scholars have come from the industrialized, First World nations. As more countries have continued to become more developed, the interests of the world have slowly started to shift. However, First World nations still have many more universities, professors, journals, and conferences, which has made it very difficult for Third World countries to gain legitimacy and respect with their new ideas and methods of looking at the world.

Globalization

A majority of Multinational Corporations find their origins in First World countries. After the fall of communism, Multinational Corporations proliferated as more countries focused on global trade.^[40] The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and later the World Trade Organization essentially ended the protectionist measures that were dissuading global trade. ^[40] The eradication of these protectionist measures, while creating avenues for economic interconnection, mostly benefited developed countries, who by using their power at GATT summits, forced developing and underdeveloped countries to open their economies to Western goods.^[41]

The United Nations ESCWA has written that globalization "is a widely-used term that can be defined in a number of different ways." Joyce Osland from San Jose State University wrote, "Globalization has become an increasingly controversial topic, and the growing number of protests around the world has focused more attention on the basic assumptions of globalization and its effects."^[42] In the case of the First World, globalization is what aided these countries to receive their status.^{[citation needed]} "Globalization is not new, though. For thousands of years, people—and, later, corporations—have been buying from and selling to each other in lands at great distances, such as through the famed Silk Road across Central Asia that connected China and Europe during the Middle Ages. Likewise, for centuries, people and corporations have invested in enterprises in other countries. In fact, many of the features of the current wave of globalization are similar to those prevailing before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914."^[43]

Pros

With respect to the First World, there are many arguments supporting globalization.^{[citation needed]} BusinessWeek lists the following as "pluses" to globalization^[44]:

• • Productivity grows more quickly when countries produce goods and services in which they have a comparative advantage. Living standards can go up faster.
  • Global competition and cheap imports keep a lid on prices, so inflation is less likely to derail economic growth.
  • An open economy spurs innovation with fresh ideas from abroad.
  • Export jobs often pay more than other jobs.
  • Unfettered capital flows give the U.S. access to foreign investment and keep interest rates low.

Cons

With respect to the First World, there are many arguments supporting globalization. BusinessWeek lists the following as "minuses" to globalization^[45]:

• • Millions of Americans have lost jobs due to imports or production shifts abroad. Most find new jobs--that pay less.
  • Millions of others fear losing their jobs, especially at those companies operating under competitive pressure.
  • Workers face pay-cut demands from employers, which often threaten to export jobs.
  • Service and white-collar jobs are increasingly vulnerable to operations moving offshore.
  • U.S. employees can lose their comparative advantage when companies build advanced factories in low-wage countries, making them as productive as those at home.

The European Union

The most prominent example of globalization in the first world is the EU, the European Union.^[46] The European Union is unique, an agreement in which countries voluntarily agree to set up common institutions to which they delegate some of their individual national sovereignty so that decisions on matters of joint interest can be made democratically at a higher, and in this case in this case European level. ^[47] The result is a union of 27 Member States covering 1.6 million square miles with roughly half a billion people producing almost a third of the world’s gross national product and speaking more than 23 languages, bound together by a desire to promote peace, stability, democracy, cooperativeness, prosperity, and the rule of law. ^[48]

Just as the concept of the First World came about as a result of World War II, so did the European Union.^[48] In 1951 the beginnings of the EU were founded with the creation of European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). From the beginning of its inception, countries in the EU were judged by many standards, including economic ones. This is where the relation between globalization, the EU, and First World Countries arises. ^[49] Especially during the 1990s when the EU focused on economic policies such as the creation and circulation of the Euro, the creation of the European Monetary Institute, and the opening of the European Central Bank. ^[48] Strict economic standards were instituted such as minimum GNP rates and low inflation rates. For example, many countries were turned away from EU admittance because of unstable economies and extremely high inflation rates.^{[citation needed]}

References

See also

• Globalization
• North-South Divide
• Second World
• Third World
• Fourth World