majority of the world remains poor and the gap between rich and poor countries is growing. The second theory is the World-System Theory. This theory blames inequality on rich countries exploiting poor ones. The next thing is to combine the two theories. This book puts out six themes to this combined theory. 1. External and internal factors influence the world. 2. Move beyond external and internal characteristics to also include regional and community factors. 3. Ethnicity is very important at every level. 4. Demonstrate more respect for non-Western cultures. 5. Place greater emphasis on women, children, refugees, and other "vulnerable" groups in society. 6. Move beyond disciplinary boundaries to examine social, economic, cultural, political, historical, and other characteristics. Then the book goes on to explain how to apply these theories and themes to world regions.
             The next section deals with Africa. It talks about all the contradictions and contrasts in Africa. This is followed by a brief history of the continent and a quick summary on contemporary life. In keeping with the contradiction theme, the next section talks about the incredibly strong societies and surprisingly weak states. As an explanation for these contrasts, the authors offer the persistence of grinding poverty as a reason. The next few sections give examples of the decline in Africa. They talk about civil strife and the lack of a strong moral government in most places. The next two sections deal with how the West views Africa. The first describes how Africa has become irrelevant and the second deals with how the continent has been reduced to a symbolic presence on the world stage. The final section deals with Africa from a theoretical perspective. They incorporate both the World-System Theory and the Modernization Theory. The fifth chapter in the book deals with Asia as an emerging giant. The first part of the chapter discusses how Asian societies are ...