What a blessed or cursed First World life we are living in. Well, quite a number of us. Take a few nights ago. I wanted to earn some desperately needed brownie points with the prime minister of eve… ...

So-called "second world" countries included those formerly controlled by the Soviet Union and/or those more developed than "third world" nations, yet less developed than "first world" nations.

The First World consisted of the U.S., Western Europe and their allies. The Second World was the so-called Communist Bloc: the Soviet Union, China, Cuba and friends.