<P> The only characteristic that Bauer found common in all Third World countries was that their governments "demand and receive Western aid," the giving of which he strongly opposed . Thus, the aggregate term "Third World" was challenged as misleading even during the Cold War period, because it had no consistent or collective identity among the countries it supposedly encompassed . </P> <P> During the Cold War, unaligned countries of the Third World were seen as potential allies by both the First and Second World . Therefore, the United States and the Soviet Union went to great lengths to establish connections in these countries by offering economic and military support to gain strategically located alliances (e.g., United States in Vietnam or Soviet Union in Cuba). By the end of the Cold War, many Third World countries had adopted capitalist or communist economic models and continued to receive support from the side they had chosen . Throughout the Cold War and beyond, the countries of the Third World have been the priority recipients of Western foreign aid and the focus of economic development through mainstream theories such as modernization theory and dependency theory . </P> <P> By the end of the 1960s, the idea of the Third World came to represent countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America that were considered underdeveloped by rich countries like the USA and Japan based on a variety of characteristics (low economic development, low life expectancy, high rates of poverty and disease, etc .). These countries became the targets for aid and support from governments, NGOs and individuals from wealthier nations . One popular model, known as Rostow's stages of growth, argued that development took place in 5 stages (Traditional Society; Pre-conditions for Take - off; Take - off; Drive to Maturity; Age of High Mass Consumption). W.W. Rostow argued that Take - off was the critical stage that the Third World was missing or struggling with . Thus, foreign aid was needed to help kick - start industrialization and economic growth in these countries . </P> <P> However, despite decades of receiving aid and experiencing different development models (which have had very little success), many Third World countries' economies are still dependent on developed countries, and are deep in debt . There is now a growing debate about why Third World countries remain impoverished and underdeveloped after all this time . Many argue that current methods of aid are not working and are calling for reducing foreign aid (and therefore dependency) and utilizing different economic theories than the traditional mainstream theories from the West . Historically, development and aid have not accomplished the goals they were meant to, and currently the global gap between the rich and poor is greater than ever, though not everybody agrees with this . </P>

What's the difference between first second and third world countries