I always hear about First World Countries and Third World Countries, but I never really hear about the Second World Countries.  I wanted to find out more about the Silver-medal countries.  The placement of countries into different “worlds” started after World War II when the world split into two large geopolitical blocs.  The first bloc refers to the First World, which includes developed, capitalist, industrial countries that aligned with the United States after the second World War.  They all generally share common political and economic interests.  The second main bloc is made up of the Second World Countries, formerly known as the Eastern Bloc, referring to the communist-socialist, industrial states that at the time aligned with the USSR.  It now includes Russia, Eastern Europe, as well as China according to OWNO (One World-Nations Online).  The Third World was composed of the countries that didn’t fit into the first main blocs and is now used to vaguely describe developing countries, including both capitalist and communist countries, and the rich (Saudi Arabia) as well as the poor (Mali).  Interestingly, where your country ranks in terms of First, Second, or Third World Countries is inversely related to how well your country finished in Olympic marathon race.