WAYS OF DIVIDING THE WORLD: WAYS OF DIVIDING THE WORLD


The world as a system: The world as a system Systems level of analysis Top-down approach Focus on patterns of interaction International actors operate in a global social-economic-political-geographic environment characterized by interdependence Actors include “states” and “non-state actors” Systems operate in predictable ways


Political “divisions”: Political “divisions” COLD WAR ERA (1948-1990) “Free world” vs. “communist world” First world: US, Western Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia Second world: USSR and Soviet bloc Third world: LDCs Fourth world: stateless peoples POST-COLD WAR TERMINOLOGY?


ECONOMIC TERMS: ECONOMIC TERMS EDCs (Economically developed countries) NICs (Newly industrialized/industrializing countries) LDCs (Less developed countries) LLDCs (Least developed of the LDCs)


GEOGRAPHIC TERMS: GEOGRAPHIC TERMS NORTH and SOUTH (30 degrees latitude) CORE, PERIPHERY, and SEMI-PERIPHERY Relative proximity of core regions, isolation of periphery regions. Emphasis on geographic factors in explaining strength of core, weakness of periphery


The CORE: The CORE Members include US, EU, Japan, Canada, Australia Democratic governments, capitalist economies Former colonial powers Extraction of resources from colonies Diversified economies that dominate world trade, control advanced technologies, have high productivities and per capita incomes.


The PERIPHERY: The PERIPHERY Members include LDCs (e.g., all of Africa except South Africa), countries of Middle East) Many land-locked, resource-poor Former colonies Locked in core-periphery structure. Economic dependence on core “Neo-colonialism”


The PERIPHERY, cont.: The PERIPHERY, cont. High percentage of exports of primary products (minerals, agricultural, and forest products) Undeveloped or narrowly specialized economies Inefficient, weak governments


The SEMI-PERIPHERY: The SEMI-PERIPHERY NICs: Newly-Industrializing or Newly Industrialized Countries Newly industrializing: Thailand, Malaysia, China, India Newly industrialized: South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan Note that position in system is not permanent; system is dynamic


The SEMI-PERIPHERY, cont.: The SEMI-PERIPHERY, cont. Exporters of manufactured (low and high value-added) goods Skilled and semi-skilled labor. Includes authoritarian (e.g. Singapore, China) and democratic governments (e.g., India)


ECONOMIC SECTORS: ECONOMIC SECTORS Primary sector: fishing, farming, forestry, mining [Periphery] Secondary sector: manufacturing, construction [Core/semi-periphery] E.g., auto assembly, garments Tertiary/service sector [Core] WART: wholesale and retail trade


ECONOMIC SECTORS, cont.: ECONOMIC SECTORS, cont. FIRE: Finance, Insurance, Real estate PAG: Public Administration and government TCPU: Transport, Communication and Public Utilities Quartenary sector: higher-order services, e.g., Research & Development, Data processing, information retrieval [Core]