Global north is a term that is used to signal power relations related to colonialism and imperialism that have positioned the countries of Western Europe and North America in a dominant relationship of oppression and exploitation in relation to countries in the rest of the world, referred to as the global south.

Global south is a term that is used to signal power relations related to colonialism and imperialism that have positioned the countries of the non-Western world in a subordinate relationship through oppression and exploitation perpetrated by countries in the global north.