The periphery in relation to such a concept as a country has a special meaning that is very different from the usual concept of “remoteness” of a territory. Rather, it is an economic term that refers to the location of a state outside the modern financial and economic core, which includes post-industrial countries with a relatively high standard of living, with a predominance of the non-production sphere and an actively growing middle class.
Instruction manual
1
The countries of the main economic core, as a rule, form the basis of many international organizations, play a huge role in the formation of international financial and commodity flows, create their branches and representative offices around the world. To the countries of the periphery it is customary to classify the most backward states with a predominance of mining and agricultural production in them. Of great importance to them, as a rule, is the capital of other investor states. In such countries there is an unstable political situation, frequent interethnic and religious conflicts. Such countries are usually headed by a certain dictator, and any incitement to rebellion and revolution is instantly suppressed.
2
The countries of the periphery are characterized by low economic indicators both in general and per unit population of the country. They are often dominated by unemployment and regular migration, cities are poorly developed, residents prefer to live in villages. Many of these countries can boast of a colonial past, which has been reflected in the modern type of production, industrialization and the characteristics of the economy.
3
As a rule, it is customary to classify the developing countries of the territories of Latin America, Africa, and Asia as peripheral countries. A similar allocation occurred after the Second World War, in the middle of the 20th century. With the collapse of the USSR, many lagging countries advanced sharply, standing in the front ranks, for example, the Asian states of Taiwan, Korea and Singapore, which were able to successfully take advantage of their main competitive advantages, such as cheap labor and foreign capital, attracted from outside..
4
Whereas earlier it was customary to divide the core and periphery along west-east directions, today, according to the recognition of many world-famous financiers, this partition is correctly carried out in the north-south section, although these borders are very arbitrary. Today, despite all the attempts of the center to introduce norms and rules that could fundamentally reverse the situation, such as the introduction of global standards for human labor, the imposition of technological progress, the countries of the periphery will most likely not soon be able to part with one of their main “advantages”, such as low-paid labor force, conditional eco-standards, which, one way or another, are one of the main competitive advantages of “lagging behind”.
