THE THREE WORLD’S

THEORY
ARJAY TEJAMO TUANDA
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CRIMINOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MINDANAO
 THE THREE
WORLD’S THEORY
• The Three Worlds Theory is a geopolitical concept
that originated during the Cold War era in the 1970s.
It was first proposed by the Chinese Communist
Party leader Mao Zedong and further developed by
his successor, Deng Xiaoping. The theory divides the
world into three broad categories or worlds based on
their political and economic systems, as well as their
alignment during the Cold War.
 FIRST WORLD

• Refers to the developed capitalist countries,

primarily the United States and it’s Western allies.
• Composed of industrialized and democratic
countries which most members were assumed to
be allied with the US against Soviet Union.
• (Canada, Australia, Japan, Western Europe, etc.)
SECOND WORLD

• Refers to the socialist countries, primarily

the Soviet Union and it’s allies.
• Former communist countries that aren’t
quite in poverty but aren’t prosperous either
( East Germany, Georgia, Poland, Ukraine,
etc.)
 THIRD WORLD
• Refers to the developing countries that
were not aligned with either the capitalist
or socialist blocs during the Cold War.
• Non-aligned world and as the global realm
of poverty and under-development.
• (Afghanistan, Latin America, Asian
Countries, etc.)
 GLOBAL NORTH
(Wealthy)
• Mostly covers the first world with
much of the second world.
GLOBAL SOUTH
(Impoverished)
• Covers the countries from the third world.
• The emerge of the term Global South is
normally used to mean countries that are
faced with social, political, and economic
challenges- for instance poverty,
environmental degradation, human and
civil rights abuses, ethnic and regional
conflicts, mass displacements, refugees,
hunger, and disease.
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