WORLD OF REGIONS
THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD
WORLD OF REGIONS
LESSON 1: Global Divides The North and The South and Asian Regionalism
1.1: Countries, Regions and Globalization
1.2: Non-State Regionalism
1.3: Contemporary Challenges to Regionalism
Objectives:
• Look at Regions as political entities.
• What brings them together as they interlock with globalization.
• Explore the other facets of regionalism, especially those that pertain to
identities, ethics religion, ecological and health.
• Differentiate between regionalization and globalization.
• Conclude by asking where all these regionalism are bringing us members of a
nation and as citizens of the world.
GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND
THE SOUTH AND ASIAN
REGIONALISM
DEFINITION
GLOBAL NORTH
Refers to develop societies of
Europe and North America,
which are characterized by
established democracy, wealth,
technological advancement,
political stability, aging
population, zero population
growth and dominance of world
trade and politics.
GLOBAL SOUTH
Refer to what may be called the
“Third World Countries” or he
less developed countries and less
developed regions.
Global North are considered
at the high income countries such
as America, Australia, New
Zealand , Belgium , Japan and
Netherlands.
Global South is referring to
less developed countries
characterized by low level of
economic development, large
inequalities in living standards and
low life expectancy. These third
world countries are Asia, Africa ,
Latin America and Oceania.
“ Has a powerful
political function”
Green: First World
Yellow : Second World
Red : Third World
FOUR WORLDS MODEL
• FIRST WORLD – Refers to the called developed, capitalist ,
industrial countries roughly, a bloc of countries aligns with the
united states after a world war II, with more or less common
political and economic interests.
• E.g.: North America, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea and
Australia.
FOUR WORLDS MODEL
• SECOND WORLD – Refers to the former communist-socialist ,
industrial states ( formerly the eastern bloc, the territory and sphere
of influence of the union of soviet socialist republic) today Russia ,
Eastern Europe, North Korea and Some of the Turk states (
Kazakhstan) as well as China.
FOUR WORLDS MODEL
• THIRD WORLD- Despite ever evolving definitions, the concept of 3rd
world serves to identify countries that suffer from high infant morality,
low economic development, high levels of poverty, low utilization of
natural resources, and heavy dependence on industrialized nations.
• • These are the developing and technologically less advanced nations
of Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America.
CONCEPT OF THIRD WORLD
The Term “Third World” originated in a 1952 article by Alfred Sauvy.
Early Definitions of the Third World emphasized its exclusion from the
East-West conflict of the Cold War as well as the ex-colonial status and
poverty of the nations it comprised.
Efforts to mobilize the Third World as an autonomous political entity
were undertaken. Following this, the first Non-aligned Summit was
organized in 1962.
WHAT MAKES A NATION THIRD WORLD?
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Countries suffer from high poverty.
High Child Morality.
Low economic and educational development.
Low self consumption of natural resources.
Vulnerable to exploitation by large corporations and industrialized
nation.
Less technological advancement.
Economies are dependent on the developed countries.
Unstable Governments
High Fertility Rates
High-Gender related illiteracy
Lack of middle class
And a small elite upper class that controls the country’s wealth and
resources.
HISTORY
The North-SOUTH divide is a socio-economic and political division of Earth
popularized in the late 20th century b and early 21st Century.
The idea of categorizing countries began during the Cold War with the
classifications of East and West.
Brandt Line is a visual depiction of the north-south divide, proposed by West
German former Chancellor Willy Brandt in the 1980’s. It encircles the world at a
latitude of approximately 30 degrees North, passing between North and
Central America , North of Africa and the Middle East, climbing north over
China and Mongolia, but dipping south so as to include Australia and New
Zealand in the “Rich North”.
The term “global south” and similar categories are relevant to the study
of globalization : (as a result of large scale political projects- MAY SERVE
AS RHETORICAL ANCHORS IN A GRAMMAR THAT REPRESENTS
GLOBAL DIFFERENCE
Levandar and Mignolo (2011) ‘the important question may not be
“what the global south is” but rather “for whom and under what
conditions the global souths become relevant’.
Sparke (2007) _ The Global South is everywhere , but it is also
somewhere and that somewhere, located at the intersection of
entangled political geographies of dispossession and repossession.
DIVISION BASIS (DEVELOPMENT)
Being categorized as part of the “North” implies development as opposed to
belonging to the “South”, which implies a lack thereof.
The North becomes synonymous with economic development and
industrialization while the South represents the previously colonized countries
which are need of help in the form of international aid agendas.
Economic Development refers to advancements in technology, a transition
from an economy based largely on agriculture to one based on industry and an
improvement in living standards.
WHAT INCLUDES NORTH AND SOUTH?
Generally definitions of the Global North include the G8 countries, the United States,
Canada, all member states of the European Union, Israel, Japan, Singapore, South
Korea , as well as Australia and New Zealand and four of the Five permanent members
of the United Nations Security Council, excluding China.
The Global South is made up of Africa, Latin America and developing Asia, including
the Middle East , and it is home to the BRIC countries (excluding Russia): Brazil, India,
and China which along with Indonesia are the largest Southern states.
FUTURE OF NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE
Economists have argued that international free trade and unhindered
capital flows across countries could lead to a contraction in the NorthSouth divide.
As some countries in the South experience rapid development there is
evidence that those states are developing high levels of South-South aid .
For example of Bangladesh, Malaysia, India and etc.
Move towards equality the United States Nations has also established its
role in diminishing the divide between North and South through the
Millennium Development Goals, all which were to be achieved by 2015.
ASIAN REGIONALISM
Regionalism is often as a political and economic phenomenon,
the tern encompasses a broader area. It can be examined in
relation to identities, ethics, religion, ecological sustainability , and
health.
Regionalism is also a process, and must be treated as an
“emergent, socially constituted phenomenon” It means that
regions are not natural or given: rather, they are constructed
and defined by policymakers, economic actors, and even social
movements.
COUNTRIES, REGIONS AND
GLOBALIZATION
State that economic and political of
regions vary, but there are certain basic
features that everyone can agree on.
COUNTRIES, REGIONS AND
GLOBALIZATION
• Region are “a group of countries
located in the same geographically
specified area” or “an amalgamation
of two regions [or] a combination of
more or “two regions” organized to
regulate and “oversee flows and
policy choices”.
• The words regionalization and
regionalism should not be
interchanged, as the former refers to
the regional concentration of
economic flows” while the latter is
“political process characterized by
economic policy cooperation and
coordination among countries.
COUNTRIES, REGIONS AND
GLOBALIZATION
• Examples:
-China offers its cheap and huge
workforce.
-Other countries make up for their small
size by taking advantage of their
strategic location like Singapore and
Switzerland.
• Countries from regional
associations for reveal reasons:
1. Military defense.
2.Regional organizations to pool of the
resources.
3.Economic crisis compels countries to
come together.
COUNTRIES, REGIONS AND GLOBALIZATION
• 1.Military Defense
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed during Cold War when
several countries plus the United States agreed to protect the Europe against the
threat of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union responded by creating its regional
alliance, the Warsaw Pact, consisting of the Eastern European countries under Soviet
domination. The Soviet Union imploded in December 1991, but NATO remains in
place.
COUNTRIES, REGIONS AND
GLOBALIZATION
2. Regional organizations to pool of the resources was established in 1950 by Iraq,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to regulate the production and sale of oil. The
regional alliance flexed its muscles in the 1970’s when its member countries took
over domestic production and dictated crude oil prices in the world market. In a
world highly dependent on oil, this integration became a source of immense power.
OPEC’s success convinced nine other oil-producing countries to join it.
COUNTRIES, REGIONS AND
GLOBALIZATION
4. Economic crisis compels countries to come together. The thai economy collapsed
in 1966 after foreign currency speculators and troubled international banks
demanded that the Thai government pay back its loans. A rapid withdrawal of
foreign investments bankrupted the economy. The crisis began to spread in Asian
countries as there currencies were also devalued and foreign investments left in a
hurry.
The IMF tried to reverse the crisis, but it was only after the ASEAn countries along
with China, Japan and South Korea agreed to establish an emergency fund to
anticipate the crisis that ASIAN economies stabilized. The crisis made ASEAN more
“unified and coordinated”.