College of Arts and Sciences

Bayombong Campus

DEGREE PROGRAM General Education COURSE NO. GE WORLD

SPECIALIZATION COURSE TITLE The Contemporary World

YEAR LEVEL All level TIME FRAME 9 hrs WK NO. 7-9 IM NO. 3

I. CHAPTER III: A WORLD OF REGIONS

II. LESSON TITLE:

⮚ Global divides: The North and The South

III. CHAPTER OVERVIEW

There are two lessons which make up this unit: “Global North-South Divide” and “Asian Regionalism. The first
lesson explains the Global North-South dynamic and critically examines the issues/challenges currently faced by the
Global North and Global South in order to bridge their gap or divide. The lesson also considers the experiences of
Latin American countries particularly the South-South connection.

The global North refers to developed societies of Europe and North America, which are characterized by
established democracy, wealth, technological advancement, political stability, aging population, zero population
growth and dominance of world trade and politics. The global South represents mainly agrarian economies in Africa,
India, China, Latin America and others that are not as economically sound and politically stable as their global North
counterparts and tend to be characterized by turmoil, war, conflict, poverty, anarchy and tyranny. In short, the global
North is synonymous with development, while the global South is associated with underdevelopment (Odeh, 2019).

The second lesson tackles Asian regionalism and the driving forces for regional cooperation among states in
general, and in the East Asian region in particular. Regionalism and globalization are two very different concepts: yet
they inevitably work together. Regionalism is the process through which geographical regions become significant
political and/or economic units serving as the basis for cooperation and possibly identity. On the other hand,
globalization is the interconnectedness and interdependence of states, forming a process of international integration
arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture.

Regionalism is inevitably linked with globalization. While globalization is the increased interdependence of
states, regionalism allows this dependence. Regional economic blocs have tended to be formed in part because of
the impact of globalization on the economic independence of states. As borders have become porous and economic
sovereignty has declined, states have been inclined to work more closely with other states within the same region
(wordpress.com, 2014).

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IV. DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES Key Terms

At the end of the chapter, the students should be able to: World of Regions

1. Discuss the distinction of the global north and global south North-South Divide
2. Explain the success and failures of the global divides
3. Differentiate regionalization and globalization Regionalism
4. Identify the factors leading to a greater integration of the Asian region
Regionalization

Global South
V. LESSON CONTENT
Third World
LESSON 1. GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH
First World
A world of regions is defined as “governments, associations, societies and groups
from regional organizations and/or network as a way of coping with the challenges of globalization”. The “double
divide” is caused by political power, economic dependency and importation/exportation of resources. The transition of
industrial production to cheap labor sources, international media, and expanding international and communication have
in some ways made the world smaller, yet in other ways made the gaps between nations larger by creating greater
dependency of poor nations to a wealthy nation.

While globalization is a phenomenon, regionalism is also seen as political and economic phenomenon.
Regionalism is a political process characterized by policy cooperation and coordination among countries (Claudio,
2018). Meanwhile, regionalization is the concentration of economic flow within region thereby binding together the
region’s economy. Since regionalism is a process, regions are not given or naturally created. They are product of
political and economic actors, and even movements. Region groups are divided due to common traits and vested
interests. The world is divided according to socio-economic and political aspects.

What is the North-South Divide?

The North-South Divide is a socio-economic and political categorization of countries. The Cold-War-era
generalization places countries in two distinct groups; The North and the South. The North is comprised of all First
World countries and most Second World countries while the South is comprised of Third World countries. (Sawe, n.d.).
Although most of the countries under “North” are located in the Northern hemisphere, the divide is not purely based
on geographic location. This categorization ignores the geographic position of countries with some countries in the
southern hemisphere such as Australia and New Zealand being labeled as part of the North (Sawe, n.d.). This divide
is recently known as development gap which put greater emphasis on the economically rich and poor countries.

The North (First World Countries)

The North of the Divide (Global North) is comprised of countries which have developed economies and
account for over 90% of all manufacturing industries in the world. Although these countries account for only one-quarter
of the total global population, they control 80% of the total income earned around the world. All the members of the G8
come from the North as well as four permanent members of the UN Security Council. About 95% of the population in

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countries in The North have enough basic needs and have access to functioning education systems. It is the home of
all the G8 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States and Euopean Union).

They are also comprised of all countries in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand as w ell as the developed countries
in Asia such as Japan, and the known “Four Asian Tigers” - South Korea, Hongkong, Singapore and Taiwan.

The South (Third World Countries)

The Global South is comprised of countries with developing economies which were initially referred to as
Third World countries during the Cold War. An important characteristic of countries in the South is the relatively low
GDP and the high population. The Third World accounts for only a fifth of the globally earned income but accounts
for over three-quarters of the global population. Another common characteristic of the countries in the South is the
lack of basic amenities. As little as 5% of the population is able to access basic needs such as food and shelter. The
economies of most countries in the South rely on imports from the North and have low technological penetration. The
countries making up the South are mainly drawn from Africa, South America, and Asia with all African and South
American countries being from the South. The only Asian countries not from the South are Japan and South Korea.

The Brandt line proposed by Willy Brandt in 1980s attempted to show growing inequality between countries.
Above line are the more developed countries, whereas, below are the less developed countries. However, this is no
longer considered valid since in today’s context, some of the world’s strongest economies lie below the Brandt line.

The Brandt line, a definition from the 1980s dividing the world into the wealthy north and the poor south.

LESSON 2. ASIAN REGIONALISM

Regionalism is a political ideology that favors a specific region over a greater area. It usually results due to
political separations, religion, geographical area. Meanwhile, Asian regionalism is the product of economic interaction,
not political planning. As a result of successful, outward-oriented growth strategies, Asian economies have grown not
only richer, but also closer together. Groups, associations, institutions, societies, communities and governments from
organizations or networks in regions. The linkages have made the people more aware of the world around them.
Globalization has made various citizens cognizant of specific areas, particularly on territories or continents where they
live. People are able to identify themselves with regions they belong to.

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Globalization versus Regionalization process

Regionalization and globalization are key defining features in contemporary world politics. They are not
actually a completely new process. As has been previously discussed, globalization is always understood as the
increased flow of goods, services, capital, people, and information across borders. Whether people share same culture,
history or commerce, the most basic sense of region is a group of countries in the same geographic location (Mansfield,
1999). The countries in this region decided to integrate and interact socially and economically leading to regionalization
(Hurrell, 2007). Regionalization is the process of dividing an area into smaller segments called regions. On the other
hand, globalization is a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together.
Countries form regional organization as a way of coping with the challenges of globalization.

Regional Integration

Regional integration was traditionally seen as a harmonization of trade policies leading to deeper economic
integration, with political integration as a possible future result. It is the process by which two or more neighboring
nation-states agree to cooperate and work closely together to achieve peace, stability and wealth. Cooperation among
countries within the region usually start with economic integration. It is the process by which different countries come
to agreement to remove trade barriers (e.g., tariffs, quotas and border restrictions) between them. Eventually political
integration follows as cooperating states have become completely integrated into a single market since there is a need
for common policies in social aspect (e.g., education, healthcare, employment benefits, and pensions) and political
institutions. Single market is the midpoint between political and economic integration they become to remove all
barriers. It will come to a point that the countries involved are totally integrated that they will adopt a common currency
with a monetary policy regulated by a single central bank, even share the same foreign policies and merge their armies
(McCormick, 1999). The European Union is the best example of regional integration. They are most nearing to the
point of total integration. They have their common currency, the Euro.

ASEAN Regions Integration

The ASEAN or Southeast Asian Nations was established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand. There are
10 member-states of which the Philippines is one of its founding members. They are Thailand, Myanmar, Laos,
Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore. Philippines and Indonesia. The main aim is to accelerate the
economic growth, promote on matters of socio-cultural interests, and maintain regional peace and prosperity. In 2007,
these objectives are clearly manifested in three pillars: ASEAN Political-Security Community; ASEAN Economic
Community; and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. ASEAN has convened to form ASEAN Community in 2015, of
which its four main goals are: Single Market and Production Base; Highly Competitive Economic Region; Equitable
Economic Development; and Integration into the Global Economy (Coloso, 2015).
Economic integration of the ASEAN was driven by three factors: 1.) market-led process, 2) institution-led
process, and 3.) private-led process. Market-led process is done through the international production sharing of MNCs.
The unilateral and multilateral reduction of barriers to trade and invest, rapid development of transportation,
information, and technology made it possible to establish and set up businesses in Asian Countries. TNCs and MNCs
geared their businesses to developing countries where labor-intensive segment of production chain is located and
wages are low. Meanwhile, institution-led process is undertaken through free-trade, investment agreements, and

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functional cooperations. Barriers to intraregional trade were reduced due to ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) which
attracted the FDI-driven production networks. AFTA created an environment for MNCs freely choose their cross-border
bases and conduct their economic activities, thereby allowing the exploitation of factor price within the region. Finally,
the private-led process is the Sub-Regional Economic Zones (SREZs) with the aim to enhance the attractiveness of
investment in the continuous areas by combining their advantages and exploit economic complementary (Austria,
2004).

Challenges on Regionalization and Globalization in Asia

Though increasing trade and financial sector integration offers enormous benefits, it poses new challenges.
One, is in the aspect of trade. The openness of Asian economy encouraged competitiveness and transfer of
technology. Other countries should open their economies to enjoy the benefit of trade liberalization while those already
benefitted must ensure that the openness is extended to new frontiers. It is important to increase transparency and
free flow of information on which the service and financial sectors depend. Further, there is a need to develop effective
policies for noncompetitive industries. With this, a number of countries need to improve their infrastructure, especially
in transportation, telecommunications and power supply to sustain growth. In turn, public finances should be
strengthened by reducing outlays in less productive areas and regional trade initiative should be compatible with the
global trade liberalization.

Regional policy coordination is another challenge. Each country has an increasing stake in the sound policies
of the others with countries becoming more integrated. Countries within the region can play a constructive role in
encouraging each other in maintaining sound policies. Regional integration is the only way to generate sufficient
economic activity, improve efficiency, heighten competition, attract investments, and thus, create jobs (Severino,
2002). Asian countries should integrate to be competitive in the global economy to counteract forces of globalization.
The massive agricultural subsidies in the European Union, Japan and US, the abuse of anti-dumping; imposition of
prohibitive costs, and litigation to developing countries are among the policies that strengthen the value of
protectionism among the Asian countries. Thus, ASEAN is being challenged to create a strong bond to have a better
chance working together in the harshly competitive world.

VI. REFERENCES

Steger, M. (2014). The SAGE Handbook of Globalization. 2 Volumes. (pp.7-21). Thousand Oaks: Sage
Publication.

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