TheThree Worlds Theory (simplified Chinese:三个世界的理论;traditional Chinese:三個世界的理論;pinyin:Sān gè Shìjiè de Lǐlùn), in the field ofinternational relations, posits that the international system during theCold War operated as three contradictory politico-economic worlds.
The precursor of the Three Worlds Theory wasMao Zedong's formulation of the "intermediate zones".[1]: 16 Mao based this idea on the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, stating between the two superpowers were "many capitalist countries, colonial, and semi-colonial countries."[2]: 78 Mao described Africa and Latin America as the "First Intermediate Zone," in which China's status as a non-white power might enable it to compete with and supersede both American and Soviet influence.[3]: 48 The more advanced economies of Europe and Japan constituted the second intermediate zone.[1]: 16
Mao articulated the Three World Theory in the 1970s.[2]: 79 On April 10, 1974, at the 6th Special Session United Nations General Assembly, Vice-PremierDeng Xiaoping applied the Three Worlds Theory during theNew International Economic Order presentations about the problems of raw materials and development, to explain the PRC's economic co-operation with non-communist countries.[4]
The First World comprises theSoviet Union and theUnited States, the twosuperpowers. The Second World comprisesCanada,Japan, thecountries of Europe, and the other countries ofGlobal North. The Third World comprisesChina,India, thecountries of Africa,Latin America and the Caribbean, and theother countries of Asia.[5]
Aspolitical science, the Three Worlds Theory is aMaoist interpretation and geopolitical reformulation of international relations. It is different from thethree-world model, created by French demographerAlfred Sauvy in which theFirst World comprises theUnited Kingdom, theUnited States, and their allies; theSecond World comprises thePeople's Republic of China, theSoviet Union, and their allies; and theThird World comprises the economically underdeveloped countries, including the 120 countries of theNon-Aligned Movement (NAM).[6]
The Three Worlds Theory was one of the inspirations forMuammar Gaddafi'sThird International Theory.[7]
The theory continues to influence China's approach towardsmultilateralism, including its advocacy for an increasinglymulti-polar world during theGeneral Secretaryship of Xi Jinping.[8]: 92
In the 1970s, theParty of Labour of Albania led byEnver Hoxha began to openly criticize the Three Worlds Theory, describing it asanti-Leninist and achauvinist theory. These criticisms were elaborated upon at length in works by Enver Hoxha, including The Theory and Practice of the Revolution andImperialism and the Revolution [sq;zh], and were also published in the newspaper of the Party of Labour of Albania,Zëri i Popullit. The publication of these works and the subsequent active criticism of the Three Worlds Theory in Albanian media played a part in the growingideological divide between Albania and China that would ultimately culminate in Albania denouncing thePeople's Republic of China andMaoism as revisionist.[9][10][11]
