Editing Third World (section)

=== Perceived "End of the Third World" ===
{{ref improve section|date=March 2025}}
Since 1990 the term "Third World" evolved to denote countries with less economic development. The term "Third World" is increasingly perceived to be politically incorrect or outdated, as it is a historical term that isn't as relevant in modern day [[geopolitics]]. Around the early 1960s, the term "underdeveloped countries" was frequently used to refer to roughly the same group of countries. This term was in turn replaced by 'developing' and 'less-developed' countries, as politicians{{which|date=March 2025}} found that the earlier term contributed to stereotypes or disrespect of this group of countries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wolf-Phillips |first=Leslie |date=1979 |title=Why Third World?|journal=[[Third World Quarterly]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=105–115 |doi=10.1080/01436597908419410 |jstor=3990587 |issn=0143-6597}}</ref> 

The general definition of the Third World can be traced back to the history that nations positioned as neutral and independent during the Cold War were considered as Third World Countries, and normally these countries are defined by high poverty rates, lack of resources, and unstable financial standing.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Drakakis-Smith |first1=D. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WbzIix8TEckC&q=third+world&pg=PA3 |title=Third World Cities |date=2000 |publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |isbn=978-0-415-19882-0 |language=en |access-date=2020-11-22 |archive-date=2021-07-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715062318/https://books.google.com/books?id=WbzIix8TEckC&q=third+world&pg=PA3 |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> However, based on the rapid development of modernization and globalization, some countries previously considered to be Third World countries, such as [[Brazil]], [[India]], and [[Indonesia]], achieved large economic growth and are no longer considered poor nations in the 21st century.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

The differences among nations of the Third World are continually growing throughout time, and it will be hard to use the Third World to define and organize groups of nations based on their common political arrangements since most countries live under diverse creeds in this era, such as [[Mexico]], [[El Salvador]], and [[Singapore]], which each have their distinct political systems.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rieff |first=David |date=1989 |title=In The Third World |journal=Salmagundi |issue=81 |pages=61–65 |jstor=40548016 |issn=0036-3529}}</ref> The Third World categorization becomes anachronistic since its political classification and economic system are distinct to be applied in today's society. Based on the Third World standards, any region of the world can be categorized into any of the four types of relationships among state and society, and will eventually end in four outcomes: [[praetorianism]], multi-authority, quasi-democratic and viable democracy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kamrava |first=Mehran|date=1995 |title=Political Culture and a New Definition of the Third World |journal=[[Third World Quarterly]] |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=691–701 |doi=10.1080/01436599550035906 |jstor=3993172 |issn=0143-6597}}</ref>