<P> By the end of the 1960s, the idea of the Third World came to represent countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America that were considered underdeveloped by the West 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> Many times there is a clear distinction between First and Third Worlds . When talking about the Global North and the Global South, the majority of the time the two go hand in hand . People refer to the two as "Third World / South" and "First World / North" because the Global North is more affluent and developed, whereas the Global South is less developed and often poorer . </P> <P> To counter this mode of thought, some scholars began proposing the idea of a change in world dynamics that began in the late 1980s, and termed it the Great Convergence . As Jack A. Goldstone and his colleagues put it, "in the twentieth century, the Great Divergence peaked before the First World War and continued until the early 1970s, then, after two decades of indeterminate fluctuations, in the late 1980s it was replaced by the Great Convergence as the majority of Third World countries reached economic growth rates significantly higher than those in most First World countries". </P> <P> Others have observed a return to Cold War - era alignments (MacKinnon, 2007; Lucas, 2008), this time with substantial changes between 1990--2015 in geography, the world economy and relationship dynamics between current and emerging world powers; not necessarily redefining the classic meaning of First, Second, and Third World terms, but rather which countries belong to them by way of association to which world power or coalition of countries--such as G7, the European Union, OECD; G20, OPEC, BRICS, ASEAN; the African Union, and the Eurasian Union . </P>

Is greece a first second or third world country