My Life as a Third World Country

My family is much like the world when it comes to the distribution of power. I am the lowly third world country that depends on all of those above me for handouts and hope to escape their wrath. My dad can tell me what to do, my mom can tell me what to do, and through the manipulation of my mom and dad, my sister can pretty much tell me what to do. The power distribution essentially adds up to me being on the bottom rung; my mom and dad being sort of an off-balance bipolar system, my mom having slightly more power over my dad; and my sister wielding the majority of the power at the top.

This is easily relatable to the world stage. Until very recently, due to the economic recession we have tumbled into, the U.S. has been the leader of global power, much like my sister. Below them are the European Union, Russia, maybe China and Japan, and a few other notable countries, most of which belong to the UN’s Security Council. This is the level my parents are on. And still below them are the rest of the countries of the world, who are at the mercy of those above them should they choose to use the power they hold.

In recent years, Iran has been pushing for a nuclear program. The fear of many is that such a program will be used to make bombs. Because of the power the U.S. has (and more specifically President Bush), our country basically decides if Iran gets to start a nuclear program or not, and if it so to what extent (CNN, 4/10/06).

Another display of the power distribution in the world is seen when viewing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even some of the higher echelon powers disagree on how this conflict should be resolved, or who they favor. But in a recent statement by Hillary Clinton, the U.S. supports Israel in its self-defense attacks (BBC, 1/28/09), meaning the rest of the world is now aware of America’s stance in the problem and will alter their diplomatic tactics accordingly.


CNN Access. “Hersh: U.S. mulls nuclear option for Iran” Interview with Wolf Blitzer, April 10, 2006. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/10/hersh.access/index.html

BBC News. “Israel launches attacks in Gaza” January 28, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7853803.stm