GE3 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

LESSON 3: AWORLD OF REGIONS

 Global Divides: The North & The South
 Asian Regionalism
Global Divides: The North and The South

Brandt Line

It is a divisionary line which simply

separates

1. the rich countries in the North

2. from the poor countries in the South

The Brandt Line - is a visual depiction of the north–south divide, proposed by West German Chancellor
Willy Brandt in the 1980s. It encircles the world at a latitude of approximately 30° 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".

Global Divide – imaginary line that separates the globally rich countries from the poor ones.

History of the Divide

- The idea of categorizing countries by their economic developmental tatus began during the Cold War with the
classifications of East and West.

 The United States and their allies represented the

West
 The Soviet Union and China represented the East

 The term “Third World” was coined by states hoping

to navigate between the two poles of the Cold War and ultimately gave birth to the non-aligned
movement

3 CATEGORIZATIONS

 FIRST WORLD
 rich and developed countries &democratic
 rich + democratic = RD
  SECOND WORLD
 rich and developed, not
democratic
 R+N = RN
 Socialist/communist societies
 Socialist – everything is owned
by the state
 No concept of private ownership

 THIRD WORLD
 Not the first world, not the
2nd world
 Democratic but not rich=
developing (e.g.,
Philippines)
 Non-democratic but not
rich

As some Second World countries joined the First World, and others joined the Third World, a new and
simpler classification was needed. The first world became the North, and the third world became the
South

o 1st world and 3rd world= North and South

THE NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE
 The North-South Divide (or Rich-Poor Divide) is the socio-economic and political division that exists
between the wealthy developed countries, known collectively as “the North,” and the poorer
developing countries (least developed countries), or “the South.”
 The North South divide is a social economic and political categorization of countries
 Not geographic – SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, POLITICAL
 This categorization ignores the geographic position of countries with some countries in the southern
hemisphere such as Australia and New Zealand being labeled as part of the North

THE NORTH
 include the United States, Canada, Western Europe, outermost regions of the European Union,
developed parts of Asia (the Four Asian Tigers, Japan, Brunei, and Israel) as well as Australia and New
Zealand.
 The North mostly covers the West and the First World,
 the North may be defined as the richer, more developed region and 95% of the North has enough food
and shelter.
 In economic terms, the North—with one quarter of the world population—controls four-fifths of the
income earned anywhere in the world. 90% of the manufacturing industries are owned by and located
in the North.

THE SOUTH
 the Second World, while the South largely corresponds with the Third World.
 South as the poorer, less developed region, many more factors differentiate between the two global
areas.
 The Global South "lacks appropriate technology, it has no political stability, the economies are
disarticulated, and their foreign exchange earnings depend on primary product exports.”
 the South—with three quarters of the world populations—has access to one-fifth of the world income.
As nations become economically developed, they may become part of the "North", regardless of
geographical location; similarly, any nations that do not qualify for "developed" status are in effect
deemed to be part of the "South"

Asian Regionalism

Regions

 are “a group of countries located in the geographically specified area”

 “An amalgamation of two regions or a combination of more than two regions” organized to regulate and
“oversee flows and policy choices.”

Regionalism

 is a political ideology that favors a region of a country to be more important than the whole. It is related
to the ideology of sectionalism. The region that is the focus of regionalism is often referred to as the
''home region.''

KEYPOINTS:

REGIONALIZATION – the growth of societal integration within a region and to the often-undirected processes
of social and economic interactions. Regionalization happens only in a specific region.

Globalization and Regionalization are the same for they refer to integration. The difference lies on the scope.
Globalization is worldwide, while regionalization focuses on a specific geographical region.

ASIA has the biggest population of at least two-thirds of the worlds inhabitants.

EAST ASIA ECONOMIC GROUP- represented the idea of an exclusivist East Asian regionalism.

ASEAN + 3 = consist of China, Japan, and South Korea

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK- more focused on Asia and the Pacific as a reaction to global economic
integration.
CHINA- is the home of more than 1.4 billion people. It is becoming one of the economic super giants of the
world. In 2016, China was the world’s leading exports of goods followed by the US.

After the second world war, JAPAN was able to adapt its policies to the dictates of the west. Japan is a major
contributor to Asian Development Bank.

SINGAPORE has become one of the emerging centers of different cultures and turned itself to city-state.

The name ASIA originated from the west, particularly from Ancient Greece (EUROPE).

Since the EUROPEAN UNION is in its nature state of regionalism, the world is now focused on ASIA.

Most countries want to collaborate with EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES and the ASEAN because of economic and
political growth started to shape.

EUROPE-ASIA RELATIONSHIP to expand its business in medical science and research.

Why do countries form regional organization?

 They form regional organizations as a way of coping with the challenges of globalization.

Asian Regionalism
 Asian regionalism is the product of economic interaction, East Asian economies focused on exporting
to developed country markets rather than selling to each other. Initially, they specialized in simple,
labor-intensive manufactures.
 Product of economic interaction between Asian countries.

EVOLUTION OF ASIAN REGIONALISM

ASEAN - Association of Southeast Asian Nations

 On August 8, 1967, the ASEAN was born with five original members:
Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.
 ASEAN’s first summit meeting was held in 1976

APEC - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

 Regional economic forum established with the United States’ strong
support

In 1997, the ASEAN plus Three (Japan, South Korea, and China) was instituted

East Asian
Summit
 a regional forum held
annually by leaders of 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian regions
 In 2010, the East Asian Summit decided to add two more members, the United States and Russia

THREE PROPOSITIONS OF ASIAN REGIONALISM

1. Geographical Asia is too diverse for cultural Asia
 Cultural homogeneity is not a guarantee for regionalist community formation.
2.Geographical Asia is too small for globalizing Asia
 It is ironical to say that Asia is too small for Asia.
3. Geographical Asia is too conflictual internally for strategic Asia
 action tends to be taken without explicitly distinguishing foes from friend