who coined these terms and how they came up with the classification.
A country which was once very rich and well matured, with some of the
best in education, science, business and trade is plundered by various
foreign invaders and is left limping to fend for itself. This nation
whose limbs have been cut-off and is now struggling to grow again, and
is called a developing nation. The foreign nation that was the
plunderer takes the term developed nation. It is all very confusing to
me, and not convincing.
To this effect Roger Cohen's editorial in the New York Times says,
that the world once again has become upside down. He says, "For a
while the world was flat. Now it's upside down. To understand it,
invert your thinking. See the developed world as depending on the
developing world, rather than the other way round. Understand that
two-thirds of global economic growth last year came from emerging
countries, whose economies will expand about 6.7 percent in 2008,
against 1.3 percent for the United States, Japan and euro zone
states."
Citing Indian examples he emphasizes, "That's also a good position
from which to view India's Tata Motors agreeing to buy Land Rover and
Jaguar from Ford for $2.3 billion, or Tata Steel's acquisition last
year of the Anglo-Dutch Corus Group steel company for $12 billion.
Globalization is now a two-way street; in fact it's an Indian street
with traffic weaving in all directions."
"A shift in economic power is under way to which the developed world
has not yet adjusted. Of course the G-8 and the permanent membership
of the U.N. Security Council need to be expanded to reflect this
change. The 21st century can't be handled with 20th-century
institutions.That's obvious. Less obvious is how the United States,
which underwrites global security at vast expense, begins to share
this burden, so that the new multi-polarity of wealth is reflected in
a multipolarity of security commitments. Headstands are in order for
the next U.S. president," writes Cohen.
Read the whole commentary at --
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/opinion/l02cohen.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y
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