Nationalism in the ‘Third World’, South Africa, and the Middle East

Abstract

The ‘Third World’ is usually considered to consist of most of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In this area, economies are not as ‘developed’ as those of the First and Second Worlds, with a predominance of agriculture and relative poverty and debt. In politics, many states are relatively recent in origin, having gained independence from the Empires of the European powers. Nationalism and ethnicity take on a different form there from the rest of the world, although there are general features in common. Included in this chapter are accounts of nationalism in South Africa and in the Middle East. These areas are within the Third World geographically, but their economies and societies are more developed. In South Africa, the ideology and politics of apartheid have dominated in recent times, while in the Middle East in the same period (i.e., since 1948) the state of Israel has put into effect the ideology of Zionism. These cases are to a large extent sui generis, but there are many ‘Third World’ features in South Africa and Israel, and in the Middle East generally. The position of the Palestinians is somewhat similar to that of the Blacks in South Africa, and beyond that to many national groups in the Third World. So too is the form of nationalism found there.