What is a "Developed" Country? Crash Course Geography #40

Summary

The video examines what it means for a country to be “developed.” It argues that the term is historically loaded, often too focused on economics, and unable to capture every aspect of people’s well-being.

How the idea of development took shape

• “Development” became widely used in the mid-20th century, but its language echoes European colonial descriptions of colonized societies as “backward” compared with supposedly modern or advanced European countries.
• Until around the 1970s, development was judged mainly by economic wealth and living standards resembling those of Europe and North America. Many formerly colonized countries were labeled “underdeveloped,” and later “developing.”
• “First,” “second,” and “third world” originally referred to Cold War political alignments, but came to be used as broad economic and cultural rankings. The video says these labels can perpetuate the idea that non-Western societies are inferior.
• Postcolonial perspectives challenge this framing. They emphasize formerly colonized peoples’ rights to resources and material wealth, as well as the lasting effects of colonial histories.

Economic development and MENA examples

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has vast oil reserves, but its resources and wealth are unevenly distributed. The region also had influential states and schools of thought long before oil became so valuable.

• United Arab Emirates (UAE): Presented as a strong economy supported by oil revenues, infrastructure investment, a market-based economy, and a history of trade. The video also notes the UAE’s period under British control and protection.
• Lebanon: Has valuable geographic and natural advantages, including water, agricultural land, and a Mediterranean port, and has historically been considered wealthy. However, its colonial history and repeated political and economic setbacks have hindered its development.

Natural resources alone do not guarantee broad-based wealth. Oil wealth can be distributed unequally within a country, while other resources may not generate comparable income.

Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the monetary value of final goods and services produced. The video cautions that GDP and similar economic measures cannot fully describe a country’s quality of life.

Limits and consequences of economic-development policies

Labels such as “Global North” and “Global South” or “more industrialized” and “less industrialized” do not necessarily solve the problem. They may obscure differences and still reflect the perspectives of economically dominant countries.

One policy approach is import substitution: tariffs or taxes make imported goods more expensive, with the aim of encouraging domestic manufacturing and building a stronger secondary economy.

Lower-income countries may borrow from institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to fund development projects. If they cannot repay their loans, debt restructuring may follow, often with austerity measures such as cuts to health care, education, or pensions.

The video argues that expecting countries to replicate European and North American economies overlooks the colonial extraction that helped finance those regions’ industrialization and wealth. Debt-based development can reinforce existing disparities.

Broader ways to measure development

The video describes several measures that go beyond GDP, while noting that each captures only part of a country’s circumstances:

• Human Development Index (HDI): A United Nations composite measure that includes factors such as education, health-care access, safe water, birth rates, and death rates. The UAE’s education infrastructure and access to electricity contribute to a high score. Lebanon scores lower in part because these measures depend on infrastructure and funding.
• Gender Inequality Index: Helps show gender disparities. The video says that in the UAE, men and women appear to have similar access to education and health care, while women earn substantially less on average.
• Gross National Happiness: An annual survey-based measure that asks people about their overall quality of life.
• Environmental and socioeconomic sustainability measures: Assess dimensions that measures of economic growth may overlook.

The video also points out that development statistics often leave out traditional knowledge, environmental stewardship, and informal mutual-aid systems—work and expertise that have often been managed by women.

Rethinking development

Development organizations are reconsidering how they support economic growth in MENA, including approaches that treat the region as an economic whole rather than only as separate states. The video also mentions China’s direct investment in infrastructure in exchange for land for factories as an alternative to loan-based investment.

A growth model based on high consumption may be environmentally unsustainable. The video cites an estimate that if everyone consumed resources at the rate of the United States, humanity would need four Earths.

Ultimately, how development is defined shapes where resources go, which policies are considered acceptable, and how countries are represented. The video urges putting people first, recognizing multiple valid forms of development, and accounting for colonial legacies and environmental limits.

Closing acknowledgment

The episode notes that borders and place names may have been established without the consent or recognition of Indigenous and Aboriginal peoples. It encourages viewers to learn about the history of where they live through Native-Land.ca and resources provided by local Indigenous nations.

Speakers and sources mentioned

• Ali Zay Carrere — Host and narrator; no other individual speakers or interviewees appear in the subtitles.
• United Nations — Associated with the Human Development Index and referenced in connection with lower-income countries’ access to loans.
• World Bank and International Monetary Fund — Mentioned as lenders to lower-income countries.
• Gross National Happiness survey — Cited as a measure of reported quality of life.
• Native-Land.ca and local Indigenous and Aboriginal nations’ resources — Recommended for learning about the history of one’s home region.