this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2025
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What happened to the second world? You never hear about it
The Warsaw Pact was the second world defensive military treaty in cold war terms where it originated. NATO allied countries, Warsaw pact allied countries, and unaffiliated with either.
But word definitions change with usage, and today first and third are more commonly used to identify economic development as a catch all measurement for developed vs undeveloped countries and regions. I don't think it's bigoted, but it is a superficial comparison. I think you can learn a lot more about a culture through their art and treatment of prisoners for example, among other measurements.
Countries that didn't ally with either the Soviets or the US are considered "second world"
This is incorrect. What you're describing is the Third World. The Second World was the eastern bloc and other Soviet allies. The First World was NATO allies. The implication is basically that the third world was not important enough to be a factor in the cold war.
US and allies were first world, Soviets and allies were the second world, everyone else was third world.