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LESSON 9 | GLOBAL DIVIDES

Global Divides

Developed vs. Developing

First World vs. Third World

Rich vs. Poor

How do we determine which countries are rich and which countries are poor?

The most widely status used measure in the of the socio-economic development is presented by the UNDP known as the Human Development Index (HDI) which was initiated in 1990.

Human Development Index (HDI) - aimed to rank all countries and determine the lowest human development and the highest level of indicators education development based on the basic namely: real income, health and (Todaro and Smith, 2012).

Basic Indicators of Development: 

Per capita Income - This refers to the total of all goods and services produced and provided within a

country’s borders, divided by its population. = GDP population

Health - is measured based on the life expectancy at birth, the rate of undernourishment, the under-5 mortality rate, and the crude birth rate.

Education 

  •  Literacy is the number of adult males and females reported or estimated to have the basic abilities and capability to read and write.

  •  It also includes the number of years attended school regardless of the quality of education received.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

The Philippines placed 106th out of the 189 countries and territories in the 2019 Human Development Report, with a human development index (HDI) value of 0.712. This placed the country at the tail end of countries with high human development group.

BRANDT REPORT 

  • Prior to the HDI there have been moves that created a literal and visual division among the different countries in the world. 

  • One is the Brandt Report in the 1980’s which was written by the Independent Commission headed by Willy Brandt to review international development issues in the 1980’s. The result formed the so called Brandt Line.

The Brandt line  - is a clear graphic presentation of a North and South division of their economies of the different countries which were based on their GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita.

Implication of the Brandt Line: 

  • Countries in the Northern part of the world are extremely wealthy 

  • Countries appearing and lying on the southern part of the line are

considered poor. 

  • The introduction of the Brandt line initiated the use of the term “Global North” and “Global South” referring respectively to rich and poor countries (Royal Geographical Society, 2020).

Difference between “Global South” and “Third World”

The term “Third World” was used during the cold war –era referring to non- alignment or their rejection of colonialism from both the USSR and USA. The known “Third World” comprises of the alliance of those countries in Africa and in Asia that became newly independent after World War 2. Later on joined by

countries from Latin America.

 First world (the capitalist, industrialized and democratic countries in the West)

 Second World (communist countries). The alliance of the “Third World” countries was.

As time passes, after the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the term Third World has

decreased in use.

It is being replaced with terms such as developing countries, least developed countries or the Global

South.

 Therefore, it is safe to conclude that “Global South” and “Third World” are simply the same; just used in different times.

Other Ways of Classifying Nations

  1. World Bank Classification System (IMAGE IN PPT, MEMORIZE) 

  1. United Countries Nation’s Least Developed

  1.Low income.- An income criterion, based on a three-year average estimate of the gross national income (GNI) per capita. The threshold for inclusion is $1,018 or below; the threshold for graduation is $1,222 or above.

2. Low human assets - All six indicators are converted into indices using established methodologies with an equal weight. The thresholds for inclusion and graduation are 60 or below and 66 or above, respectively.

3. High Economic Vulnerability - All eight indicators are converted into indices using established methodologies with an equal. The thresholds for inclusion: 36 or above and for graduation: 32 or below.

  1. G7, G8 and G20

  • The G8 and G20 are coalitions of nations that address significant international issues.

It started as G7, a group of seven nations that joined together in 1975 to resist the 1973 oil embargo by the Arabs as a protest against the intervention of the United States and the United Kingdom during the Yom Kippur War.

  • The G7 was formally known as the Group of Seven Industrialized Nations.

  •  Its members were Britain, United States, France, Canada, Japan, Italy, and Germany.

  •  The G7 was renamed to the G8 in 1997, when Russia was added to the original seven-country line-up.

  • The G7 and G8 asserted several political and economic policies that affected other countries.