FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev.

0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in GE 5: Contemporary World Module No.6

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. 6

THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND SOUTH

MODULE OVERVIEW

The world has been divided in different ways. Because of historical factors, countries have
been categorized as first world, second world and third world. In recent times, nation states have
been identified either as the Global North or Global South. Most often they are defined based on
their wealth and development.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Knowledge
• Examine the term Global North and Global South
• Identify examples of countries which are categorized as Global North and Global South

Skills
• Distinguish the characteristics of the Global North and Global South

Attitude
• React to the world order as divided into South and North

MODULE CONTENT

Prior to the division of world as Global North and Global South, it was divided into three world
country (Gorman, 2003):
• The “First World” are countries which are aligned with the United States adhering to capitalism as
their economic and political system.
• The “Second World” are countries aligned with the now-defunct Soviet Union adhering to the
principles of communism
• The “Third World” of non-aligned (and generally poor) nations. People use the term “third world”
to refer to poor nations in general, but many people are not certain of its origin.

With the end of the cold war, the term second world was not used anymore.

Cold War is the term used to describe the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet
Union and their respective allies after World War II. The Cold war centered on major political and
economic propaganda and not necessarily on recourse to weapons. It was George Owell, an English
writer who first used this term in 1945 to refer to what he predicted would be a nuclear stalemate
between “two or three monstrous super-states, each possessed of a weapon by which millions of
people can be wiped out in a few seconds.” (Britannica Encyclopedia)

The Global North are developed European, North American, Australian societies. It also
includes South Africa and Israel (Odeh, 2010). Among the characteristics of countries belonging to
the global north are:
• established democracy
• wealth

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Study Guide in GE 5: Contemporary World Module No.6

• technological advancement
• political stability
• aging population
• zero population growth
• dominance of world trade and politics

On the contrary, the global South are societies with agrarian economies like Africa, India,
China, Latin America and others which do not have stable economy and politics compared to the
global North. These countries experience turmoil, war, conflict, poverty, anarchy and tyranny (Odeh,
2010)
.
The Global north is most often associated with first world countries where powerful countries
like the Group of Eight (G8) –Germany, Canada, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Russia, Japan and
the United States of America is located. On the other hand, third world countries are now termed as
the Global South.

The Brandt line as shown below was proposed by Willy Brandt in 1980. It is an imaginary
line dividing the world into two regions based on their GDP per capita.

The map shows that generally rich countries are found in the northern hemisphere and poor
countries are in the southern hemisphere with the exception of Australia and New Zealand.
Nevertheless, this global partition has become blurry and less useful since the economies of many
countries have changed overtime.
For additional information on the Global North and Global South, kindly access the
link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18-lqE8DSL3ToObAHAdAxb3gSFLk9Wc-u/view?pli=1

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Study Guide in GE 5: Contemporary World Module No.6

Activity 1

Difference between Global North and South

Instruction: Cut out pictures from magazines and newspapers and make a collage showing the
differences between rich and poor countries. Take a photo of your work and paste it here:

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Study Guide in GE 5: Contemporary World Module No.6

REFERENCES

Cold War: International Politics. https://www.britannica.com/event/Cold-War

Gorman,Tom (2003). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Economics. USA: Alpha

Books

Odeh, L.E. (2010). A Comparative Analysis of Global North and Global South Economies.
https://www.academia.edu

Royal Geographical Society. A 60 Second Guide to the Global North/South Divide.

https://www.rgs.org/schools/teaching-resources/60-second-guide-toglobal-north-south-divide

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