The Third World and the Right to Development: Agenda for the Next Millennium

[F]our fifths of the world's population no longer accept that the remaining fifth should continue to build its wealth on their poverty. ¹

I. Introduction

It is no longer news that countries of the Third World are in a state of emergency. They are waging war against poverty, disease, and all the other evils that have plagued our generation. The war appears not to have abated, although some battles have been won. There has been some measure of progress within the last few decades. In some countries of the world, "Berlin walls" have been torn down--real walls and walls of the mind. However, in many other parts of the world, particularly the Third World, walls still remain. There are walls of power and poverty. There are walls that deprive people of their most basic rights. There are walls that divide societies between those who have and those who have not, between those who rule and those who suffer. There are walls that consign whole sectors of society to an existence barely worth the name. In short, there are walls of underdevelopment.

So although some walls are falling, this is not the time to be complacent. It is not yet the time to celebrate Uhuru. The process is just beginning. New structures are yet to be built. Besides, there are still "many more lands to be possessed." ² There are many more battles to be fought, many victories to be declared. Only an emergency organization--"a war syndrome"--can win this war.

This article seeks to examine the concept of "the right to development," or "development rights," in relation to the Third World. Is the right to development an inalienable right? If so, what priority should countries of the Third World give to development? Should they place it above other rights? Can this be legally justified? How can Third World countries balance economic growth with basic human needs--and human rights? This article will also consider the consequences for the new millenium of the near-universal embrace of the market economy and the effects of the globalization of the economy on the right to development. What are the challenges that the right to development creates for contemporary international law?

II. Conceptual Analysis

A. "Third World"

Alfred Sauvy first used the expression "Third World" in 1955. ³ It has, since then, caught on very successfully. However, a satisfactory definition has yet to be elaborated. The Chinese invented the theory of the "three worlds." ⁴ The first was constituted by the dual American-Soviet hegemony. The second consisted of such countries as China, the Western European States, Japan, Canada, and Australia. The last corresponded precisely to the developing countries, also described as the "Third World."

The term "Third World" can be defined according to many criteria. It can, for example, be defined from the political perspective. In this sense, it represents a group of states attached neither to the capitalist camp nor to the communist bloc; they are the non-aligned countries. Also, "Third World" can be defined from the economic perspective. In this sense, it means countries with the common characteristics of underdevelopment.

Geographically speaking, the Third World mainly consists of the African, Asian, and Latin American states. These countries belong to the "storm belt." They are so described because they have been through many disturbances. ⁵ They have, for example, fought many battles for their national liberation and economic independence. The "Third World" is thus a geopolitical concept, based on inclusion in a geographical area--the Southern hemisphere--at the historical period of colonization. It is also based on the economic situation of underdevelopment.

Some writers have made a further classification. ⁶ They classify developing Third World countries into two groups. The first group consists of the low-income developing countries. These are largely made up of African countries, especially sub-Saharan African...