The End of the Third World? Modernizing Multilateralism for a Multipolar World?
Introduction: The End of the Third World?
For decades, students of security and international politics have debated the emergence of a multipolar system. It’s time we recognize the new economic parallel.
If 1989 saw the end of the “Second World” with Communism’s demise, then 2009 saw the end of what was known as the “Third World”: We are now in a new, fast-evolving multipolar world economy – in which some developing countries are emerging as economic powers; others are moving towards becoming additional poles of growth; and some are struggling to attain their potential within this new system – where North and South, East and West, are now points on a compass, not economic destinies.
Poverty remains and must be addressed. Failed states remain and must be addressed. Global challenges are intensifying and must be addressed. But the manner in which we must address these issues is shifting. The outdated categorizations of First and Third Worlds, donor and supplicant, leader and led, no longer fit.
The implications are profound: For multilateralism, for global cooperative action, for power relationships, for development, and for international institutions.
Read more on the website of the World Bank