Are there second world countries?

Question

I always found it odd because I know there are 1st and 3rd but ive never heard of 2nd please answer

Answer 1

I know what I'm talking about because I've lived this over the last forty years. Most answers you get will direct you to a wikipedia site, or they'll just blatantly cut and paste for you. This is a sincere answer, in my own words:

First of all, don't concern yourself with this rediculous notion of a "Fourth world" which you may see in some answers. It was merely a cheap attempt made by a liberal activist to get some recognition for groups of people who probably didn't even care or deserve it. To understand the concept of 2nd world you should only concern yourself with actual legitimate countries.

Basically, the concept behind 1st, 2nd and 3rd world identifications no longer exists. The original perspective was created within the so called 1st world to help identify the allies, potential enemies and basically irrelevant countries.

1st world- The USA, Britain, Western Europe, Japan & Australia, Canada...

2nd world - The Soviet Union, East Germany, Eastern Europe & China

3rd world - Everybody else. Countries like Viet Nam & North Korea could be considered 2nd world in this overall obsolete model.

What ended up happening is that the second world basically desolved in the fifty years or so since the concept was created, you know: collapse of the Soviet Union, reunification of Germany, market economies in China & Viet Nam...

Consequently, the term "3rd world" became a popular way to describe an impoverished nation which doesn't matter and can't get its sh!t together. "A thrid world country"

For a country to be classified as a 2nd world country, it must pose a threat to the USA, or be an ally of such a country. Bottom line is that there is no such thing as a second world country anymore.

Arab nations with a strong religious fundamental government, and organizations like Al Queda, are not 2nd world because the description was meant to refer to communist countries which saw the spread of their way as an important part of their national image.

The whole concept of 1st, 2nd and 3rd world is a relic of the cold war.

Answer 2

Four Worlds
After World War II the world split into two large geopolitical blocs and spheres of influence with contrary views on government and the politically correct society:
1 - The bloc of democratic-industrial countries within the American influence sphere, the "First World".
2 - The Eastern bloc of the communist-socialist states, the "Second World".
3 - The remaining three-quarters of the world's population, states not aligned with either bloc were regarded as the "Third World."
4 - The term "Fourth World", coined in the early 1970s by Shuswap Chief George Manuel, refers to widely unknown nations (cultural entities) of indigenous peoples, "First Nations" living within or across national state boundaries.

Answer 3

Yes, there are Second World countries. "Second World" refers to the former communist-socialist, industrial states, (formerly the Eastern bloc, the territory and sphere of influence of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic) today: Russia, Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland) and some of the Turk States (e.g., Kazakhstan) as well as China.