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Difficulty: MediumCalls for Reform and Responses after 1900

"We, the Members of the United Nations... Solemnly proclaim our united determination to work urgently for the establishment of a New International Economic Order based on equity, sovereign equality, interdependence, common interest and cooperation among all States, irrespective of their economic and social systems which shall correct inequalities and redress existing injustices, make it possible to eliminate the widening gap between the developed and the developing countries and ensure steadily accelerating economic and social development and peace and justice for present and future generations..."

— United Nations General Assembly, Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, 1974

Which of the following twentieth-century developments most directly prompted the call for reform expressed in the excerpt?

  1. The persistent economic inequalities between newly independent nations and industrialized powers following decolonization.Answer
  2. B
    The complete cultural homogenization of the global population under a single standardized consumer identity.
  3. C
    The re-establishment of mercantilist trade systems designed to secure exclusive colonial markets for imperial powers.
  4. D
    The wholesale replacement of global capitalist systems with Marxist-Leninist command economies across the Global South.

Answer

The persistent economic inequalities between newly independent nations and industrialized powers following decolonization.
The correct answer is correct because the New International Economic Order (NIEO) was a series of proposals promoted by developing nations in the 1970s. These nations, many of which had recently gained political independence through decolonization, found that they remained economically disadvantaged within the global capitalist framework. They sought to reform international trade, aid, and financial systems to reduce the economic gap between themselves and the developed world.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the source citation and the historical context of the document.
The document is the Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order (NIEO), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1974.
Understanding when and by whom the document was created helps identify the historical era (the post-decolonization period of the late twentieth century) and the primary actors involved (developing nations of the Global South).
2
Examine the core arguments and goals expressed in the text of the excerpt.
The excerpt calls for correcting inequalities, redressing injustices, and eliminating the widening gap between developed and developing countries.
This identifies that the source is a call for economic reform aimed at rebalancing the relationship between wealthy industrialized nations and developing states.
3
Connect these goals to the broader historical developments of the twentieth century.
Although decolonization had granted political independence to many nations in Asia and Africa, global economic structures still left these newly independent states economically dependent on and disadvantaged compared to their former colonizers. The NIEO was a direct call to reform these unequal economic relationships.
This identifies the correct option by matching the pedagogical intent of the question with the underlying historical reality of post-colonial economic disparities.

Key Concept

Post-1900 calls for global economic reform and responses to international inequality.
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Topics

Calls for Reform and Responses after 1900

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