1) Rostow’s Five-Stage Model vs. Wallerstein’s Three-Part World
Different models have been created to explain and give a general explanation for the development of countries. One is Rostow’s Model follows five different stages of development for countries: 1) Traditional society: a mainly agrarian society of subsistence farming with minimal development; 2) Preconditions of take-off: A few elites of the society begin to initiate and drive changes from farming to manufacturing; 3) Take-off: In which the primary sector of the economy is on a decline and people move into cities to work in factories as cheap laborers and countries earn money through mass production of goods; 4) Drive to Maturity: At the beginning of this stage, economic growth peaks as the population focused on manufacturing decreases and more moves towards the service sector and other occupations that take more skill than manual labor; 5) Age of high consumption: At this stage, the majority of the country’s population is in the tertiary sector of the economy, and people are able to spend more money on luxurious goods and focusing on equality and welfare rather than simple survival or working day and night for minimal wage. Wallerstein’s Model of development shows that the world has three different systems, the core, semi-periphery, and periphery. The core is the most developed, have more complex societies with larger tax bases allowing it to focus on infrastructure and social welfare. In addition, they are more specialized in finance and service industries. The periphery is essentially on the other side of the scale and its economy less developed, weak central governments (mostly), much smaller tax bases, and they’re economy relies largely on agriculture as they slowly shift towards a manufacturing society. The semi-periphery countries are on their way towards becoming core countries, and are shifting from manufacturing economic sectors to service sectors.
There are several major differences between the models. One, the Rostow’s Five-Stage Model focuses on development of one country only. It focuses on how a single country transforms as it develops according to his model. However, Wallerstein’s Three-Part World recognizes the importance of other countries to be involved in the development of another. The peripheral supply largely basic necessities or commodities for the core and the semi-periphery manufacture more complex products designed by the core countries. In addition, the Rostow Model does not take into account foreign intervention. It believes that a country develops by itself, moving through the process. However, the Wallerstein Model is largely dependent on the three different systems working together, usually with the core countries at the center—hence the name—and the peripheral and semi-peripheral countries manufacturing and providing for them through cheap labor and limited environmental or humanitarian laws.
Two, the Rostow’s Five-Stage Model is essentially a linear process of development from a traditional agrarian society to a manufacturing-relying country to finally one of mass consumption and focusing mainly in the service and finance sector. Thus, a country can only move forward in this process. However, in the Wallerstein’s Three-Part World model, countries are not necessarily following a line of change in its development process. It may experience major advances such as during the Cold War period in which US heavily-subsidized countries surrounding the communists states, the Four Asian Dragons, or it may also experience major setbacks from war, global recession, lack of resources, or political instability. Aside from economic depressions, the majority of the obstacles to development occur in the peripheral states not the core states as they tend to be more socially developed and politically stable.
Finally, the Rostow model does not take into account the different development paths the countries embark on. It believes that a country is destined on one path of agriculture to manufacturing (in which there is a decrease of agriculture) to service (in which agriculture becomes the least common and manufacturing experiencing a decrease). However, while some countries rely on international trade for development, which the Rostow model does not cover because it does not include foreign intervention, other may also use a self-sufficiency strategy in which they place heavy tariffs on imports to prioritize their own goods for sale. With the latter, the funding of the government is usually spread evenly between the different industries and there is limited competition, thus, creating a stall in development, which the Rostow model also does not take into consideration.
The economy of Mexico, for example, cannot be properly examined with the Rostow model because during the Cold War, Mexico experienced a time of import-substitution industrialization economic models, as many Latin American countries attempted at the time. However, the Wallerstein model may be used to analyze the economy of Mexico. The growth of Mexico’s economy began largely in the late-1800s from foreign investments—another factor failed to be taken into consideration by Rostow—and immigration from Europe. This allowed Mexico, in the span of several decades, to shift from a peripheral state focusing largely on an agrarian society to a semi-peripheral one as manufacturing with cheap labor increased and agriculture was significantly made more effective. However, today Mexico is still considered a semi-peripheral state because of a mixture of the large inequality in urban and rural regions and stagnation of its economy during the 1980s from its continuation of ISI. In urban areas such as Mexico City, people accumulate wealth in large quantities, including the current wealthiest man in the world. Thus, the large population suffering under poverty drags down its GDP per capita and ranking on development index.
Core and peripheral regions can also be observed within the national scale as well. Such examples of core regions can be seen in places such as Wall Street, New York. The center of trade, Wall Street is filled daily with the exchange of all sorts of goods. The prices of coffee beans, the second most traded commodity (behind oil), is decided in places such as Wall Street, however, the growing, harvesting, production, and packaging of the goods itself is located in places such as southeastern Brazil—Minas Gerais, Sao Paolo, or Parana. Another example would be Japan. Among one of the largest economies of the world, Japan is also amongst the smallest and most incapable of supplying for itself. While it is the center for technology and innovation, all the raw materials must be imported from, mostly, Southeast Asia, and because its agricultural sector is incapable of sustaining its own country, much of its food is also imported from those regions or places such as Western China.
2) International Borders of African Countries
Still prevalent throughout the world as a consequence of the age of colonialism, a superimposed boundary is a political boundary that ignores differences in culture, ethnicity, or existing political units within the area that is usually put in place by another overpowering and previously ruling authority. The prime example would be in Africa where these boundaries were made during the post-colonialism era, mostly following World War II.
However, creating superimposed boundaries create many problems. These borders often do not take into account the groups of people that live within, and that may spark conflicts. Such clashes are apparent in Africa. The first example would be in Nigeria. When Nigeria gained its independence in 1960, the country was largely split into two religious groups: Christians in the south and Muslims in the north. The former colonial rulers failed to see the need of separating the two regions and thus, the south gained control of the country, introducing Western education and religion to the north. The Muslims opposed strongly of the Western influence but their demands were largely ignored because they also had difficulty joining the government as the Christians were favored and prioritized. Their lack of voice in the government caused tension between the two groups. In 2002, Boko Haram was established with the goal of eventually creating an Islamic State. For 7 years they remained a peaceful organization until in 2009, reports of the group’s increase in military activity caused an outbreak of violence that resulted in the death of over 700. Yet, that was only the beginning and in the years to come, death tolls reached the thousands and are still escalating. The superimposing boundary that grouped two significantly different religious groups together had severe political—the fight for control over the country—and cultural—concerning which was the dominant religion—consequences.
Another example would be the Second Sudanese Civil War, a fight of political control between the English and Arabic speaking regions of the country. In 1946, after Britain granted independence to Sudan, Arabic was made the official language of the country and the northerners held the majority of the positions in the government. In 1953, despite 800 available seats in senior administrative positions, only 6 hailed from South Sudan. This angered the South Sudanese people and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) was created as a rebel group to recreate South Sudan as a country by fighting against the central government. After over 20 years of war, peace agreements were finally made in 2005 and the Republic of South Sudan was made a country, free from the rule of the Sudan government.
A final example would be the notorious Rwandan genocide. Although before the colonial age, the Hutu and Tutsi tribes were united and lived in peace under the Kingdom of Rwanda, following the independence after the establishment of colonies, the two groups began to grow hostile. While under colonial rule, the Tutsis were privileged for their larger stature and the benefitted greatly from it, but sympathetic clergy men of the Catholic Church began to educate the Hutus in the final years of before Rwandan independence. The tensions between the two groups for political control escalated quickly yet they were placed within the same country due to the long history stemming before even the colonial era. The outbreak of genocide began following the assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana and once again, the failure to separate two ethnic groups in conflict resulted in the death of an estimated 500,000 to 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus, people who did not support the actions of the extremists.
Another issue with superimposed borders may not necessarily be a cultural or religious difference in groups but also geographical. Africa has a total of 15 landlocked countries, that due to its lack of access to the ocean, they depend largely on their neighboring states. Water is among the cheapest and most practical way to transport large amounts of goods across borders to other countries. Thus, by not being able to be in contact with either the Atlantic or Indian Ocean, landlocked countries in Africa have difficulty negotiating trade deals with the outside world. As the majority of Africa still focuses on the primary sectors of its economy, they require significantly on export to other countries. The lack of service sector industries makes agriculture their major and most possible source of income. Landlocked countries, therefore, face a major challenge and export to its neighboring state before they, in turn, can sell it to the outside world. Lesotho, for example, is completely dependent and at the mercy of South Africa. Its major resources are agriculture and diamond, both of which are mostly sent to South Africa for sale to the developed countries. As most countries today do not rely on import-substitution strategy, of a self sustaining development program, the landlocked countries also need to rely on export which is, as stated repeatedly, difficult to do.
Different models have been created to explain and give a general explanation for the development of countries. One is Rostow’s Model follows five different stages of development for countries: 1) Traditional society: a mainly agrarian society of subsistence farming with minimal development; 2) Preconditions of take-off: A few elites of the society begin to initiate and drive changes from farming to manufacturing; 3) Take-off: In which the primary sector of the economy is on a decline and people move into cities to work in factories as cheap laborers and countries earn money through mass production of goods; 4) Drive to Maturity: At the beginning of this stage, economic growth peaks as the population focused on manufacturing decreases and more moves towards the service sector and other occupations that take more skill than manual labor; 5) Age of high consumption: At this stage, the majority of the country’s population is in the tertiary sector of the economy, and people are able to spend more money on luxurious goods and focusing on equality and welfare rather than simple survival or working day and night for minimal wage. Wallerstein’s Model of development shows that the world has three different systems, the core, semi-periphery, and periphery. The core is the most developed, have more complex societies with larger tax bases allowing it to focus on infrastructure and social welfare. In addition, they are more specialized in finance and service industries. The periphery is essentially on the other side of the scale and its economy less developed, weak central governments (mostly), much smaller tax bases, and they’re economy relies largely on agriculture as they slowly shift towards a manufacturing society. The semi-periphery countries are on their way towards becoming core countries, and are shifting from manufacturing economic sectors to service sectors.
There are several major differences between the models. One, the Rostow’s Five-Stage Model focuses on development of one country only. It focuses on how a single country transforms as it develops according to his model. However, Wallerstein’s Three-Part World recognizes the importance of other countries to be involved in the development of another. The peripheral supply largely basic necessities or commodities for the core and the semi-periphery manufacture more complex products designed by the core countries. In addition, the Rostow Model does not take into account foreign intervention. It believes that a country develops by itself, moving through the process. However, the Wallerstein Model is largely dependent on the three different systems working together, usually with the core countries at the center—hence the name—and the peripheral and semi-peripheral countries manufacturing and providing for them through cheap labor and limited environmental or humanitarian laws.
Two, the Rostow’s Five-Stage Model is essentially a linear process of development from a traditional agrarian society to a manufacturing-relying country to finally one of mass consumption and focusing mainly in the service and finance sector. Thus, a country can only move forward in this process. However, in the Wallerstein’s Three-Part World model, countries are not necessarily following a line of change in its development process. It may experience major advances such as during the Cold War period in which US heavily-subsidized countries surrounding the communists states, the Four Asian Dragons, or it may also experience major setbacks from war, global recession, lack of resources, or political instability. Aside from economic depressions, the majority of the obstacles to development occur in the peripheral states not the core states as they tend to be more socially developed and politically stable.
Finally, the Rostow model does not take into account the different development paths the countries embark on. It believes that a country is destined on one path of agriculture to manufacturing (in which there is a decrease of agriculture) to service (in which agriculture becomes the least common and manufacturing experiencing a decrease). However, while some countries rely on international trade for development, which the Rostow model does not cover because it does not include foreign intervention, other may also use a self-sufficiency strategy in which they place heavy tariffs on imports to prioritize their own goods for sale. With the latter, the funding of the government is usually spread evenly between the different industries and there is limited competition, thus, creating a stall in development, which the Rostow model also does not take into consideration.
The economy of Mexico, for example, cannot be properly examined with the Rostow model because during the Cold War, Mexico experienced a time of import-substitution industrialization economic models, as many Latin American countries attempted at the time. However, the Wallerstein model may be used to analyze the economy of Mexico. The growth of Mexico’s economy began largely in the late-1800s from foreign investments—another factor failed to be taken into consideration by Rostow—and immigration from Europe. This allowed Mexico, in the span of several decades, to shift from a peripheral state focusing largely on an agrarian society to a semi-peripheral one as manufacturing with cheap labor increased and agriculture was significantly made more effective. However, today Mexico is still considered a semi-peripheral state because of a mixture of the large inequality in urban and rural regions and stagnation of its economy during the 1980s from its continuation of ISI. In urban areas such as Mexico City, people accumulate wealth in large quantities, including the current wealthiest man in the world. Thus, the large population suffering under poverty drags down its GDP per capita and ranking on development index.
Core and peripheral regions can also be observed within the national scale as well. Such examples of core regions can be seen in places such as Wall Street, New York. The center of trade, Wall Street is filled daily with the exchange of all sorts of goods. The prices of coffee beans, the second most traded commodity (behind oil), is decided in places such as Wall Street, however, the growing, harvesting, production, and packaging of the goods itself is located in places such as southeastern Brazil—Minas Gerais, Sao Paolo, or Parana. Another example would be Japan. Among one of the largest economies of the world, Japan is also amongst the smallest and most incapable of supplying for itself. While it is the center for technology and innovation, all the raw materials must be imported from, mostly, Southeast Asia, and because its agricultural sector is incapable of sustaining its own country, much of its food is also imported from those regions or places such as Western China.
2) International Borders of African Countries
Still prevalent throughout the world as a consequence of the age of colonialism, a superimposed boundary is a political boundary that ignores differences in culture, ethnicity, or existing political units within the area that is usually put in place by another overpowering and previously ruling authority. The prime example would be in Africa where these boundaries were made during the post-colonialism era, mostly following World War II.
However, creating superimposed boundaries create many problems. These borders often do not take into account the groups of people that live within, and that may spark conflicts. Such clashes are apparent in Africa. The first example would be in Nigeria. When Nigeria gained its independence in 1960, the country was largely split into two religious groups: Christians in the south and Muslims in the north. The former colonial rulers failed to see the need of separating the two regions and thus, the south gained control of the country, introducing Western education and religion to the north. The Muslims opposed strongly of the Western influence but their demands were largely ignored because they also had difficulty joining the government as the Christians were favored and prioritized. Their lack of voice in the government caused tension between the two groups. In 2002, Boko Haram was established with the goal of eventually creating an Islamic State. For 7 years they remained a peaceful organization until in 2009, reports of the group’s increase in military activity caused an outbreak of violence that resulted in the death of over 700. Yet, that was only the beginning and in the years to come, death tolls reached the thousands and are still escalating. The superimposing boundary that grouped two significantly different religious groups together had severe political—the fight for control over the country—and cultural—concerning which was the dominant religion—consequences.
Another example would be the Second Sudanese Civil War, a fight of political control between the English and Arabic speaking regions of the country. In 1946, after Britain granted independence to Sudan, Arabic was made the official language of the country and the northerners held the majority of the positions in the government. In 1953, despite 800 available seats in senior administrative positions, only 6 hailed from South Sudan. This angered the South Sudanese people and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) was created as a rebel group to recreate South Sudan as a country by fighting against the central government. After over 20 years of war, peace agreements were finally made in 2005 and the Republic of South Sudan was made a country, free from the rule of the Sudan government.
A final example would be the notorious Rwandan genocide. Although before the colonial age, the Hutu and Tutsi tribes were united and lived in peace under the Kingdom of Rwanda, following the independence after the establishment of colonies, the two groups began to grow hostile. While under colonial rule, the Tutsis were privileged for their larger stature and the benefitted greatly from it, but sympathetic clergy men of the Catholic Church began to educate the Hutus in the final years of before Rwandan independence. The tensions between the two groups for political control escalated quickly yet they were placed within the same country due to the long history stemming before even the colonial era. The outbreak of genocide began following the assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana and once again, the failure to separate two ethnic groups in conflict resulted in the death of an estimated 500,000 to 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus, people who did not support the actions of the extremists.
Another issue with superimposed borders may not necessarily be a cultural or religious difference in groups but also geographical. Africa has a total of 15 landlocked countries, that due to its lack of access to the ocean, they depend largely on their neighboring states. Water is among the cheapest and most practical way to transport large amounts of goods across borders to other countries. Thus, by not being able to be in contact with either the Atlantic or Indian Ocean, landlocked countries in Africa have difficulty negotiating trade deals with the outside world. As the majority of Africa still focuses on the primary sectors of its economy, they require significantly on export to other countries. The lack of service sector industries makes agriculture their major and most possible source of income. Landlocked countries, therefore, face a major challenge and export to its neighboring state before they, in turn, can sell it to the outside world. Lesotho, for example, is completely dependent and at the mercy of South Africa. Its major resources are agriculture and diamond, both of which are mostly sent to South Africa for sale to the developed countries. As most countries today do not rely on import-substitution strategy, of a self sustaining development program, the landlocked countries also need to rely on export which is, as stated repeatedly, difficult to do.