Third World socialism

Third World socialism is an umbrella term for many movements and governments of the 20th century—all variants of socialism—that have taken place in numerous less-developed countries. There have been many leaders of this practice and political philosophy which remained strong until at least the 1990s, including: Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Buddhadasa, Fidel Castro, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Juan Domingo Perón, Modibo Keïta, Walter Lini, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Jawaharlal Nehru, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Sukarno, Ahmed Sékou Touré and other socialist leaders of the Third World who saw socialism as the answer to a strong and developed nation.

Third World socialism is made up of African socialism, Arab socialism, Buddhist socialism, Islamic socialism, Melanesian socialism, Nasserism, Peronism, and Nehruism. Gaddafi's version was more inspired in the ideas of Arab nationalism, direct democracy, strongman politics and national liberation struggle while Bhutto's was more Western-aligned and resembled, allied and inspired itself in the ideas of Western democratic socialism/social democracy and had membership in the Socialist International.

In the 21st century, a surge in leftist governments called the pink tide occurred in Latin America. Latin American socialism of the 21st century is an ideologically-specific form of Third Worldism. It incorporates anti-Americanism and a connection with the less-developed Eastern Europe and finds solidarity with other developing countries including variants in the Arab world.

The leaders of African socialism were Julius Nyerere, first president of Tanzania after the independence, who coined the concept of Ujamaa and collectivized the land; Kwame Nkrumah, first president of Ghana, who was one of the fathers of the Non-Aligned Movement, praised state planning policies like the five-year plans and an agency for the regulation of cocoa exports and in several political speeches and writings developed his theory of African socialism; Modibo Keïta, father of Mali; and Ahmed Sékou Touré, father of Guinea.

The main figures of Arab socialism are Gamal Abdel Nasser, second president of Egypt, who nationalized the Suez Canal, and the Ba'ath Party, founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, which gained popularity in the whole Arab world and reached the government in Syria (1963-2024) and Iraq (1963-2003). Arab socialism is defined as "a non-Marxist socialism adapted to the strong conservative Islamic roots of the Arab world". Arab socialism postulated the elimination of economic inequality and relied on economic planning and public ownership of the economy, and partly under Soviet influence, elements of the Soviet socialism. It also promoted women's right and abolition of discrimination based on religion and religious denomination.

Noam Chomsky argued that the main trait shared by both Arab socialism and Marxist socialism was "the idea that the government has direct responsibility for the welfare of the people". Arab socialism mainly concerned itself with the liberation of the Arab nations from their exploitation by the West. The main characteristic of Marxism, liberation of the working class from its exploitation by the bourgeoisie, was also present in Arab socialism, but presented as something that can be realized by resisting Western imperialism and economic interests, as well as through religious Islamic rhetoric.

In case of Nasser, his Arab socialist policy consisted of mass nationalizations, including the Suez Canal, as well as the pharmaceutical, cement, phosphate, and tobacco industries, hitherto owned by French and British concerns. Nasser also created new, state-owned enterprises, such as a national steel company. Main concern of Nasser, in line with Arab socialism, was "indigenizing" the Egyptian economy and safeguarding the political independence of Egypt, especially in economic aspect. Some sectors such as banking, overseas trade and transportation became entirely public-owned, while private investment was permitted in other sectors such as mining, though limited to Egyptian citizens only in order to hinder foreign dependence.

Iran experienced a short Third World socialism period at the zenith of the Tudeh Party after the abdication of Reza Shah and his replacement by his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (though the party never rose to power). After failing to reach power, this form of third world socialism was replaced by Mosaddegh's populist, non-aligned Iranian nationalism of the National Front party as the main anti-monarchy force in Iran, reaching power (1949–1953), and it remained with that strength even in opposition (after the overthrow of Mossadegh) until the rise of Islamism and the Iranian Revolution. The Tudehs have moved towards basic socialist communism since then.