dimension, the “semi-periphery,” a zone of transition, in which countries are both
victimized by the core group, and exploit those on the periphery. The tripartite
nature of the system is crucial, because this prevents the formation of a unified
opposition to the predominance of the core, because the members of the semi-
periphery are unlikely to ally with either the core or the periphery. Two aspects
of the theory are clear departures from earlier notions about the dynamics of
global economic relationships. First, the system de-emphasizes the importance of
thenation-stateas an independent agent; rather, economic actors in each of the
three divisions work across politicalboundariesto preserve and promote their
interests. A prime example of this would be a multinational corporation. Second,
the assumption that every country undergoes a similar progression in its economic
development is rejected—proponents of WST argue that countries that are cur-
rently considered “developing” will not evolve economically in the same way that
existing economic powers have.
Countries making up the core of the system share many characteristics. They
have stable governments with strongly established state institutions, and often
have significant military power. Furthermore, these states possess high standards
of living, are highly industrialized, enjoy high levels of productivity in allsectors
of the economy, can access large pools of capital generated by investment mech-
anisms, and have the most technologically advanced economies. According to
Wallerstein, the initial set of economies that compose the core first emerged in
the 1500s, as the maritime powers of Europe engaged inimperialism. Some pro-
ponents, like Frank, suggest that a world system was in place much earlier in his-
tory. Nonetheless, concentrated in Europe and later North America, within two
centuries these countries established the world system in much the form that it
exists today. Industrialization of the core during the 1800s further solidified its
control of the world system. Core states typically compete for both resources and
markets to maximize their economic advantage. Relations between core countries,
and between the core, periphery and semi-periphery, may change as new states
join this group and alter the dynamics of economic production. On occasion, one
country has come to dominate the core. Most recently this has been the United
States, which over the past 70 years has enjoyed the strongest currency, the largest
economy as measured by total Gross National Product (GNP), and the most influ-
ential financial markets.
The periphery represents the collection of the world’s poorest states. Most of
these would fall within the more generalcategory of “developing” countries,
located for the most part in Africa, south Asia, and Latin America. Economies in
the periphery are generally undiversified, and typically rely heavily on extractive
activities such as mining, forestry, andagriculture. The level of technological
development and application is also low when compared to the core economies,370 World Systems Theory