A WORLD OF REGIONS

While globalization is a phenomenon, regionalism is also seen as political and economic phenomenon. The world
consists of different regions which refers to group of countries situated in same geographic location or
amalgamate one another to oversee flows arid policy choices. Countries on these regions respond economically
and politically to globalization thereby forming regional associations for common purposes like military defense
and economic security.

THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND SOUTH

North-South Divide
The North-South Divide or Rich-Poor Divide is the socio-economic and political division between the wealthy
developed countries known as “the North,” and the poorer developing countries or “the South.” Although most of
the countries under “the North” are in the Northern Hemisphere, the divide is purely not based on geographic
location. Some countries located in the same hemisphere may be qualified for “developed” status. In effect may
deemed part of “the South.” This divide is recently known as development gap which puts greater emphasis on
the gap between the economically rich and poor countries.

Focus Points/Highlights
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 mostly encompasses the West and the First World, along with many of the Second World.
It is the home of all the G8 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the USA and the United
Kingdom), Global North also includes the outermost regions of the European Union, Australia, New
Zealand, and developed members of Asia (the Four Asian Tigers - Hongkong, Singapore, Taiwan and
South Korea). The North, with one quarter of the world population, controls four-fifths of the income earned
anywhere in the world. It owned 90% of the manufacturing industries which are also located in the countries
belonging to the North.

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

The Global South includes the countries belonging to the Third World. These are regions outside Europe and
North America. With three-fourth of the world populations, only has access to one-fifth of the world income.
Hence, countries that have low-income and often politically or culturally marginalized. “The use of the phrase
Global South marks a shift from a central focus on development or cultural difference toward an emphasis on
geopolitical relations of power,” (Dados, 2012). The Brandt Line proposed by Willy Brandt in 1980s attempted
to show growing income inequality between countries. Above the line are the rich countries, whereas below the
line are the poor countries. However, this theory is no longer considered as valid since in today’s context some
of the world’s strongest economies lie below the Brandt line.

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.

Global South vs The Third World

The emergence of the term Global South is in part to aid countries in the Southern Hemisphere to work in
collaboration on political, economic, social, environmental, cultural, and technical issues. This is called a South-
South Cooperation (SSC), “g political and economic term referring to the long-term goal of pursuing world
economic changes that mutually benefit countries in the Global South and lead to greater solidarity among the
disadvantaged in the world system” (Gray, 2016).

Global South was first used in 1969 in a contemporary political sense and continued to gain appeal throughout
the second half of-the 20th centuries.
It was a French demographer, anthropologist and economic historian Alfred Sauvy (1898-1990) who coined the
term “the Third World” in 1952, comparing it with Third Estate, a concept that emerged during the French
Revolution which refers to the French population. The term was accepted because it clearly differentiated the
poor countries from the First World where countries are wealthy, and to Second World (Communist states) though
not so wealthy but characterized by greater order, higher incomes, and longer expectancies (Butler, 2007).
Their growth and develop of the developing countries in the 1970’s was slowing. Developed countries were
becoming dependent on the Third World for energy due to the decline of US oil reserves. These likely increased
the economic power of the. Third World. It was at this time that the term North and South were firstly widely used
in lieu of the long standing geographical and cultural partition of the East and West. The Global South was
merged to the Third World in order to avoid the stigma brought about by the form “Third World” as being very
poor and thus created a new world order (Butler 2007).

To explain further, Third World countries are experiencing deep poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment. They
are the countries at the periphery that produce mainly agrarian and mineral raw materials for industrialized states.
In deeper sense, the developing countries originally belong to the Global South still has a chance to become a
developed country.

Global Relations in Latin America

Latin America, like Africa, has small populations but endowed with rich natural resources. Because of this, this
region is target for grand-scale pillage for capital accumulation by Europe and the United States. Countries in
Latin America went under the control of either Spain or Portugal during the Colonial Era. During the 19" century,
the world capitalist system exploited the peonized peasants. The tillers, laborers, and uneducated were subject
to brutality by big agrarian landowners. The natural resources like mines were exploited by the developed
countries.
The emigration of peasants from the countryside in the 20th century resulted to “modernization poverty” replacing
rural poverty in Latin America. A settlement of jerry-built shacks or favelas emerged in the cities. A lot of people
were now living in the urban areas alongside with the change of politics imposing fascist dictatorship. Certain
rights were abolished like right to vote. Specialized police services were established giving extra-legal authority
to arrest and torture people who go against the government. The brutal super—exploitation in Latin America are
worse compared to other regions in the world. Until now, some countries in the region are still suffering and
recovering from the brutal treatment as the result of dictatorships. The situation of the Philippines during and
after the colonial era was much better compared to the experiences of Latin America.

Even before the current globalization trends appear in Latin America, they were experiencing the wide-raging
globalization which resulted to exploitation and abuse. Danilo Antén (1998) in his article, “Different waves of
globalization in Latin America”.
The first wave of globalization was the military wave that happened around 15 to 16" centuries.
Extracontinental military invasion of the Americas was immediately felt. There were political and cultural
annihilation of the indigenous people. The first wave was extremely brutal.

The second wave of globalization was the economic wave. The Spanish and Portuguese colonies were well
established this time in the 90" century. Latin America was the basic source of raw materials by the European
countries. During this time, the globalization development was mainly related to the requirements of the
European industrial revolution. Natural resources in this period were exploited and workers were abused.
However, infectious diseases were reduced, communication, and transportation were developed.

Cultural wave was the third globalization wave. Due to the nature of technological changes, globalization
affects the cultural sphere of Latin America. Computers and telecommunications were now made available and
air travel has become widespread. The flow of merchandise and trade is easier and accomplishing lots of things.
Women has become increasingly important in the workplace. A lot of changes were happening. Communication
was becoming better. People within the region can now communicate with each other and to other regions of the
world. But new disease was introduced like AIDS or HIV.

Though the impact of the third wave was already felt during the 20" century, the impact of the second wave was
still felt and very much alive. Both waves in the last decade was simultaneously experienced affecting many
countries around the world. The better effects brought by the third wave were often outweighed by its negative
impacts. A lot of raw materials were produced and exported outside the region resulting to higher income to the
detriment of the environment. Native trees or crops were replaced by other plants highly demanded by the
importing countries resulting to soil erosion. Increased consumption of sea products promoted Expansion of
aquaculture resulting to reduction the water quality.

Despite of these effects, the national cultures of Latin America still exist These are important assets to regional
societies. However, many individuals and communities have no political control over their common destinies.
The weakening of the state capacity and the increase in access of information might be a source of opportunity
for the individuals and communities. The tools offered by this new globalization, according to Anton (1998), might
paved the way for planetary survival and social renewal.