Western World Increasing Influence

Culminating Task

          The objective of the task is to carefully predict the influence of the Western world in the near future. The western world consists of countries that are built on the ideals of the first European peoples. The reason for this is because back then, Europe was considered the Western world only because it was located in the west. Now in modern days, we see the Western world as countries that have been colonized by European nations. The thesis being proven is; the influence of the Western world will not decline, it will continue to increase its influence over the same, and more countries. This will be proven by looking at the history of the western world and why it already hasn't changed, technology and how more 3rd world countries are becoming more technologically advanced, and finally a counter argument to why the influence could switch from West to East.

          The concept of the Western part of the earth has its roots in Greco-Roman civilization in Europe, with the advent of Christianity. At first the term “Western world” had literal geographic meaning, however the geographic side to it is abolished. There is no true definition on what the Western world nations have in common, nonetheless, they all seem to have a significant population of European descendants and have cultures and societies heavily influenced by and connected to Europe. Throughout history, different points in time contributed to what we consider the Western world today. A big point in history that shaped the Western world to what it is today, is the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire times contributed a great deal towards everything the Western world has today to offer the world. Some examples are; development of law, art, literature, architecture, technology and language and even war. All of these things have amounted to the Western world have a major influence on the rest of the world. The reason war is in there is because when the “west” and “east” were separated, war was used for gaining land. This is a big factor because each empire wanted to have the greatest land mass so they could populate the most amount of people and accomplish a great amount of things (agriculture, population, greater empire etc). We can also see looking back on the Roman Empire, the west allied a greater amount of influential countries. The west was; Iberia (Portugal, Spain), Gaul (France), Africa (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco), and Britannia. The east was considered; Greece, Anatolia, Syria, and Egypt. Moving forward in time we can still see that there is a great deal of influence from the Western world from the “Age of Discovery” and “Age of Enlightenment”. The Age of Discovery was the time in which the Europeans explored Africa, America, Asia and Oceania. This was a big milestone to the West because it opened up great opportunities to colonize new land. Today, we are considered the west because of our European decedents settling in the American land. The Age of Enlightenment was a time in which there was a big cultural movement in first Europe then later in the American colonies. This was important because it gave many scientific discoveries, along with any political ideals. In the Scientific Revolution, the western philosophers overturned many traditional concepts and introduced new perspectives on nature and mans place within it. The political side was also considered another great step forward for the Western world. In the political ideals of Enlightenment, things such as The American Declaration of Independence, United States Bill of Rights, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen were introduced. These political ideals have carried on into the modern 21^st century. With the history as it is, what makes people think that the influence on the Western world will change? The reason I’m defending the fact that the Western world will continue to have a great influence is because they have influenced the world since the early 1^st-4^th centuries. In conclusion, the history of the Western world leads me to believe that we will continue to have a great influence on the rest of the world in the near future.

Technological advances throughout history have been a big factor in the Western world’s influence. The reason for this is because many people in the world look for new ways of improving everyday tasks with technology. In my opinion, one of the biggest and most successful innovations to come out of the west was steam power. The reason this is so big is because it lead to many other inventions later to come. A huge breakthrough was with steam engines. This gave people the ability to travel quickly and sufficiently by train. Steam power was also used in factories which then lead to the generation of electrical power. This is a big influence because the steam engine opened the doors for a much greater advancement which is the car. Another big influential device the Western world has is the invention of the most modern communication devices. This includes the telephone, mobile phone, internet etc. The reason these are so big is because the phone and internet are what keep people connected around the world. Before telephone and internet, the only way to communicate with others around the world was via written mail. Finally, I think the biggest influence that deals with technology (more with entertainment) is Hollywood. Here, most of the Western world’s entertainment takes place. We watch our movies and television shows that are staged somehow through Hollywood. People all over have dreams of becoming an actor and moving to Hollywood to star in movies or shows, showing that the western influence has hit back home with them and is impacting their choice in careers. There is however the influence that Bollywood has on the Indian race can be a counter to Hollywood. This is the only Indian film industry to produce and make Hindi-language films. Despite the influence that Bollywood has on the Indian culture, Hollywood’s influence severely overpowers Bollywood just on the fact that since it comes out of the west, people across the world are more intrigued to watch the Western world production instead of the Eastern. In conclusion, the use of technology and entertainment has a great influence on the world today, which can only lead to bigger and better results in the future meaning we will have an increased influence with the world.

There is one flaw with the Western world however. This is with their industrial strength compared to China and even South Korea. In both these countries there are a lot of industries that build and make certain things that get shipped all over the world including the Western world. In China, the biggest and most profitable export coming out of their country is surprisingly Apple products. What many people don't realize is that almost 100% of the product is imported from China. This is a shock because in the Western world (mostly United States and Canada) 50% of households own an apple product. Showing that the "Eastern world" has a huge impact on the west just with electronics. In South Korea their biggest export to the Western world is Samsung products. This includes mobile phones, televisions, computes, stereos, etc. There is no set percentage on household items however according to Samsung, they're looking at an increase of 50% sales in home appliances in the next three years. The reason I am saying this is because with these countries supplying so much of the world with electronics and home appliances, they can start to shift the influence towards the Eastern world. However, there is one problem with this thought; if the Western world (Canada, USA, Brazil, Europe etc.) stop buying these appliances, will the influence be as high. The answer is no. This is because a lot of what these countries (China, South Korea) are exporting are bought by countries of the Western world. A good example is; Canada (Ontario specifically) "signed off one of the world's largest renewable energy projects, signing a $6.6 billion deal that will result in 2,500 Mega Watts of new wind and solar energy capacity being built", this is only with Korea and Samsung (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung#Major_customers). This is showing that a bit portion of what these countries are exporting are being bought by western countries. So in conclusion, if the Western world were to stop buying products manufactured by these countries, their industrial business would plummet and they would need to find new customers settling for a lower price in exports. 

In complete conclusion, the world will still be influenced heavily by the Western world in the near future due to what was explained previously. First is the history of the West and how it has still stood triumph to the East and just by looking at the history, things aren't changing anytime soon. Next was about technology/entertainment and how the west shows dominance with having invented a great deal of electronics and communication systems and Hollywood that we influence others around the world to use these everyday items. Finally I brought up a counter argument that stated the East could surpass the West in influence due to the larger industries and greater exportation. However, the biggest imports of these goods are the West themselves so with the Western world not purchasing them, the industries would not be so powerful and used worldwide.