Is Afghanistan a third world country?

Answer 1

Yes.

When the term "third world" was first coined, it referred to those countries outside of the "first world", which were those countries that were strongly Westernized and allied with the United States, and outside of the "second world", which were those countries under the sway of Communism and allied with the Soviet Union. As Afghanistan was a non-aligned country, it was considered a "third world country". More recently, the term "third world" country has come to mean that a country is underdeveloped and Afghanistan certainly qualifies under this definition. Large swathes of the country are illiterate, there is barely any infrastructure or industrialization, and there is rampant poverty and starvation.

Answer 2

A third world country is defined as a country that remained neutral or unchanged during the Cold War. These countries did not take sides with communism or capitalism. Somalia did not take sides during the Cold War, so they are classified as a third world country.

Answer 3

This question may come from one of two perspectives: definitional (How does Afghanistan fit the definition of a third world country?) and historical (Why is Afghanistan currently in the position that it is in?).

Definitional: When the term "third world" was first coined, it referred to those countries outside of the "first world", which were those countries that were strongly Westernized and allied with the United States, and outside of the "second world", which were those countries under the sway of Communism and allied with the Soviet Union. As Afghanistan was a non-aligned country, it was considered a "third world country". More recently, the term "third world" country has come to mean that a country is underdeveloped and Afghanistan certainly qualifies under this definition. Large swathes of the country are illiterate, there is barely any infrastructure or industrialization, and there is rampant poverty and starvation.

Historical: Afghanistan was a territory that has traded hands between innumerable conquerors, none of whom invested much in the region. During the colonial period, Afghanistan was a buffer state between British India and the Russian Empire and managed to become relatively regionally secure, but failed to embrace modern industrialization on a large scale. More recently, the Soviets supported a Communist coup in Afghanistan in 1976, preceding its own invasion of the country in 1979. Afghanistan has basically been in perpetual war since this point. From 1979-1989 there was the attempt by Afghan Mujahedin led by Osama bin Laden, the forerunners of the Taliban, Tribal Warlords, all with US support to repel the Soviet Invasion. In 1989, the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan and the US lost interest as soon as the Soviets departed. This left these Afghan "allies", which had been uncomfortable with each other from the outset to turn on each other. The Mujahedin and Taliban were able to secure 90% of the country and the Tribal Warlords, who called themselves the Northern Alliance maintained some rural areas in the northeast.

The Mujahedin pulled back from governance in order to begin the formation of the Al-Qaeda Terrorism Organization. The Taliban ascended to government and ruled Afghanistan in a barbaric way, failing to improve any of the dilapidated infrastructure and maintained an anti-industrialist and anti-scientific stance. In 2001, the US invaded Afghanistan and aligned themselves with the Northern Alliance to overthrow the Taliban government. While they were successful in forcing the Taliban to withdraw, the Taliban continued to attack the Northern Alliance government in Kabul (Hamid Karzai's government). These continuing attacks from the Taliban and the widespread corruption in the Northern Alliance government have hampered any attempts to modernize Afghanistan.

Answer 4

Yes.

When the term "third world" was first coined, it referred to those countries outside of the "first world", which were those countries that were strongly Westernized and allied with the United States, and outside of the "second world", which were those countries under the sway of Communism and allied with the Soviet Union. As Afghanistan was a non-aligned country, it was considered a "third world country". More recently, the term "third world" country has come to mean that a country is underdeveloped and Afghanistan certainly qualifies under this definition. Large swathes of the country are illiterate, there is barely any infrastructure or industrialization, and there is rampant poverty and starvation.

Answer 5

Yes.

When the term "third world" was first coined, it referred to those countries outside of the "first world", which were those countries that were strongly Westernized and allied with the United States, and outside of the "second world", which were those countries under the sway of Communism and allied with the Soviet Union. As Afghanistan was a non-aligned country, it was considered a "third world country". More recently, the term "third world" country has come to mean that a country is underdeveloped and Afghanistan certainly qualifies under this definition. Large swathes of the country are illiterate, there is barely any infrastructure or industrialization, and there is rampant poverty and starvation.

Answer 6

afghanistan is a developing country b ecause it a lame country

jeremy todd