The Concept of First World

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FIRST WORLD
      The world is economically cum politically divided or categorized into three namely: the First World, the Second World and the Third World. However, terms like First World, Second World, Third World, or developed nations, developing nations, underdeveloped nations, industrialized nations, imperial nations, metropolitan nations, mother nations, centre nations, periphery nations, capitalist nations, socialist nations, communist nations or countries etc., have dominated contemporary literature in social sciences and have also posed great challenges to average learners of government and political concepts especially on the ideas or rationales behind these classifications. All these classifications are more economical than political. The economic status of any nation determines where she will be classified into whether as a First, Second or Third World.
      Hence, the First World is a term used to describe all the western developed capitalist nations like the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, Canada, United Kingdom, Russia, Switzerland, Netherlands etc. It is due to their political, economical, social, scientific and technological development that earns them the title of the “First World”. Other terms that can be used interchangeably with it include: developed nations, western nations, imperial nations, mother nations, industrialized nations, centre nations, metropolitan nations and capitalist nations.
      On other hand, the concept of the Second World is used to refer to the most of the socialist nations, mostly former member nations of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). The Second World nations are economically and politically viable and developing, but not as the First World. Countries like United Arab Emirate, Singapore, Malaysia, Israel etc., fit into this classification. Other terms associated with the Second World include: developing nations, emerging nations, and industrializing nations.  
       Third World as its name implies occupied the third and last position in the of spectrum international politics. Countries that belong to this category are the poor nations mostly from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Some examples are: Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Ghana, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Swaziland, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Cuba, etc. They are the dependent nations that depend on the First and the Second World Nations. They achieved their political independence without economic independence after long period of imperialism and colonialism. Other items associated with the Third World include: underdeveloped nations, periphery nations, new nations, non industrialized nations, poor nations, and dependent nations.

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