World Bank leader says developing countries should no longer be called Third World nations
Staff
AP News
Apr 14, 2010 14:24 EDT
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."
