Core countries
[clarification needed] These were the Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern empires in the ages up to the 16th century; prominently India and China which were the richest regions in the world until the European powers took the lead, although the major Asian powers such as China were still very influential in the region.
It was then that the victorious United States and Soviet Union, up to late 1980s, became the two hegemons, creating a bipolar world order.
The heart of the core countries[clarification needed] consists of the United States, Canada, most of Western Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The United States, Canada, most of Western Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are examples of present core countries that have the most power in the world economic system.
Pax Mongolica is a particularly important period which started in 1206 and ended, according to contradicting sources, between late 14th and early 15th centuries.
[7] Many trade routes went through the Mongol Empire territory, even though they were not the easiest ones to travel, due to the rough Asian terrain.
"[15] At the beginning of the 18th century, Europe had not yet dominated in the world economy because its military did not match that of Asia or of the Middle East.
[17] Hence, although Europe was wealthy, this dynamic shows that there may be a reversal of power because it was consistently expanding money, yet hardly bringing in currency.
[16] The 18th century was profoundly marked by the profitability of the Atlantic slave trade, which played a significant role in the economic development of contemporary core countries in Europe and the Americas.
Slavery existed in Africa prior to Europeans' capitalization on the practice, with Africans sometimes engaging in the sale of enslaved people.
[19] However, those enslaved and sold by Africans were usually prisoners of war or criminals, which European trading companies embraced as a convenient supply of human capital.
[20] Additionally, chattel slavery, where an enslaved person is considered property, was not a common practice among Africans at the time and peaked due to widespread implementation in the Americas.
Because of the explosion of the Atlantic slave trade, many African nations experienced irreparable damage to their economies and societies as a whole.
It was widespread in the ancient world in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, and its victims came from many different ethnicities and religious groups; while this does not condone the actions taken by current core countries in recent history; it is not unique to the current group of Core Countries.
After the First World War, Europe was decimated[clarification needed], which led to opportunities for new core states.
[29] The World Systems Theory argues that a state's future is decided by their stance in the global economy.
Alterations in financing plans by companies will also play a part as they change to react to the continuously evolving world market.
Although these three factors will not completely decide where a company chooses to invest – they do play extremely large roles in such decisions.
A main key to becoming or remaining a core is determined by the country's government policies to encourage funding from outside.
As a result of the lower priced division of labor and natural resources available, the core state's companies buy these products for a relatively low cost and then sell them for much higher.
The periphery countries only receive low amounts of money for what they sell and must pay higher prices for anything they buy from outside their own region.
Because of this continuous order, periphery countries can never earn enough to cover the costs of their imports while setting aside money to invest in better technologies.
During the early industrialization and growth of the American economy, exports produced by slaves played a huge role in making businesses the most profit.
