'Third World' Term Should Be Retired, Says World Bank Head

WASHINGTON — The head of the World Bank says it is time to stop using the term "Third World" to refer to developing countries and recognize they are an essential part of a new, fast evolving international economy.

Robert Zoellick said the global economic crisis of 2009 showed that the categorizations of First and Third Worlds, donor and supplicant, leader and led, no longer fit.

He said Wednesday that big international issues cannot be solved without the involvement of developing countries and nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa whose economies are evolving rapidly.

Zoellick said, "We cannot afford geopolitics as usual."

Comments

[SilentSolidarity]

12:59 AM on 04/15/2010

It's obvious why the World Bank wants a name change. Because it has totally failed to help those countries. "Developing country" is a vague term. Every country is developing. And if it is developing, in which direction? Backwards or forwards?

Born in Rwanda (for teabbagers: that's in Africa), I also hate to see black people used in context of poverty. It has created a new kind of r@cism. The one where people think that all black people are poor and don't know anything about technology and modern society.

[harriettubman]

11:36 PM on 04/14/2010

Just like the word minority. If the census is accurate, white people will now carry that label. Brown folks have been here forever but not according that the innaccurate census. Who believes blacks still make up just 13% of the population? Latinos, just 15%? Asians, just 5%? Yeah, right. That "white" box is being checked just a tad too many times.

[hard center]

11:04 PM on 04/14/2010

I see your point it's as clear as day.

[plaidsportcoat]

10:38 PM on 04/14/2010

....because we're ALL wage slaves, now!

[wm1066]

05:52 PM on 04/14/2010

How about the name "future labor force for multi-national companies"?
The fact that these companies are setting up plantation style factories in these countries shouldn't be overlooked. We could call it the Saipan Business Model.... Tom Delay would be proud.

[gabberwok]

05:44 PM on 04/14/2010

The term "Third World" became obsolete with the end of the cold war... It refers to a time when the world was considered split between Russian and US interests (Worlds 2 and 1), with the superpowers fighting over the resources and political philosophies of the remaining countries (Third World).

[goddessNdiva]

05:34 PM on 04/14/2010

HP some racist editors. Why attach the picture of young Black boys to the article? WOW>

[hard center]

11:05 PM on 04/14/2010

photo

I see your point it's as clear as day.

[harriettubman]

11:44 PM on 04/14/2010

The same way they called it "looting" when black children in New Orleans were looking for food but called it "finding" food when a white couple did the exact same thing.

[kamenwati]

05:28 PM on 04/14/2010

Retiring the debt of some developing countries would be more useful than simply changing the term used to label them.