What do you consider the West?

[WildWestDude]

Originally Posted by DannyBanany

Developed doesn't necessarily mean when they were established. It means how big of competitors they are in today's enterprise. I just don't believe that Greece and Italy are as big of competitors in today's markets as France, Britain, Japan, and America. Greece and Italy are probably more comparable to Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia. Greece and Italy are not as advanced.

sorry, but your statement tells me nothing.
Competitions and markets are not a must for a western country
I place history and culture much above so called "advancement"

[Tom Lennox 70]

Originally Posted by KB4

What makes the Czech Republic more "Western" than say Slovenia or Estonia? What do you even know about these "backward" countries?

Prague has a more Western feel than let's say Bratislava, Minsk, Chisinau, Kiev, or Moscow. In most of Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and the former Yugoslavia, countries have actually decliend since the collapse of Soviet rule. There is widespread poverty and organized crime, their distribution of wealth and rule by corrupt oligrach and crooked politicians is a lot like Mexico and Colombia. A lot of people in Eastern Europe live without heating in the winter, many cramped in tiny apartment, I've read articles about what its like in places like Ukraine and Russia.

Every news article or report always treats Russia and its former satellite states as separate from the West.

The Czech Republic is now a NATO and EU member. Also, history and locatoin play a role. Moscow will be a Western city the day that Houston becomes a northern city. You can't possibly say that Russia or Estonia are Western countries.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Originally Posted by decafdave

The term "west" is outdated, plus its misleading to think you can simplify it geographically in east and west. I think it once served a purpose to mean communist and the free world but those days are gone.

Like someone else said, its all about development and the only barrier imo is 1st world and 3rd world.

1st world nations have a high standard of living, equal (or at least better than 3rd world) rights for women, are not in constant turmoil, and have lower birth rates.

The 3rd world only has a high standard of living for its small upper class, women and minorities tend to be held down, much of the population struggles to be fed yet they still breed like rabbits. A bit hard to feel sympothy but that is another topic.

Now, there are some countries like China and Brazil that are in transition between 3rd and 1st so you will see elements of both.

Some will say that a 2nd world exists but I don't think its true. They would include all the countries that sided with the Soviet Union in this and are now getting on their feet economically, as well as China and India.

1st and Third World is different from Western and non-Western. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are First World but not Western. Unless you count South Africa, Argentina, and Chile there are no Third World "Western" countries. I guess some peopel make a case for Portugal, Greece and Ireland occassionally. Even today there are supposedly a large number of illegal Irish living in the US for some strange reason.

Turkey and Austria have been described as being a "bridge between East and West". I've also heard the reason so many NGOs are HQed in Vienna is because of this. This definition would exclude Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, etc from the West.

[Aguila]

It also depends on your point of reference. As a Russian, I can tell you that Russians have never thought of Russia as a western country (nor is it eastern either, for that matter) and was surprised sometime ago to learn that Russia is seen as a western nation by the Chinese!

I guess the term "west" or "western" has lost its original geopolitical meaning since the fall of the Berlin wall. It is an outdated term in the present-day world, hence the confusion. The same is true to 1st or 3rd world, as there is no 2nd world anymore. The westerners should come up with a better term to describe the western world.

[DutchWriter]

Originally Posted by Aguila

It also depends on your point of reference. As a Russian, I can tell you that Russians have never thought of Russia as a western country (nor is it eastern either, for that matter) and was surprised sometime ago to learn that Russia is seen as a western nation by the Chinese!

I guess the term "west" or "western" has lost its original geopolitical meaning since the fall of the Berlin wall. It is an outdated term in the present-day world, hence the confusion. The same is true to 1st or 3rd world, as there is no 2nd world anymore. The westerners should come up with a better term to describe the western world.

The Chinese are in the middle, so you are in the west!