What do you consider the West? (living in, rated, teacher)

[Tom Lennox 70]

Since there's so many north-south debates in the US forum, I might as well pose this question to ya'll.

I consider "The West" to be...

- the US and Canada
- The NATO members west of the old Iron Curtain
- Switzerland (neutral country)
- Australia and New Zealand

However I think a case might be made for Israel (founded by Europeans) and the Czech Republic (now a well-integrated and prosperous EU member). Wikipeida says some people consider Japan a Western country but I think their culture rules this out.

Do you consider Latin America to be Western given their location in the western hemisphere? News articles have referred to people lining for visas at "Western embassies" in Argentina and Peru. Australia is located further east than China and Japan but its undoubtedly part of the West. Israel is considered Western by some b/c of its European roots. In South America, Argentina also has mostly European roots. I've never heard of any Latin American country referred to as Western.

Is Mexico a Western country? Again they're our neighbors but their culture is very different as is the lifestyle down there. I also don't consider Russia, the former Soviet Union, the former Yugoslavia and most of the former Eastern Bloc states, including Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Romania to be Western countries and neither does the media. You always hear about "relations between Russia and the West" or "Western influence in Russia".

[Tom Lennox 70]

Also, I still stand by my definition above but is it outdated to think of the old Iron Curtain (though I would put united Germany in the West). In the US peopel still do the north-south split based on the Mason-Dixon Line, would it also be legitimate to separate the "West" based on the old Iron Curtain? I mean if you compare London, Paris, and Rome with Moscow, Kiev, and Chisinau you can easily see the difference.

[DannyBanany]

A 'Western Nation' has more to do with development than geography. By geographical definition, sure Mexico is western, but by developmental standards it is far from it.

Western Countries:
-USA
-Canada
-France
-Britain
-Spain
-Brazil
-Germany
-Czech Republic
-Switzerland
-Norway
-Low Countries
-Japan
-South Korea
-Australia
-New Zealand

[Sweden]

What happened to the other Scandinavian countries such as Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland? We're western too.

Western countries, in my opinion (I haven't googled the definition, so I admit I don't know the specific details) are developed countries that share a similar standard of culture and science, etc. Western I believe is not just about geography, since Australia amongst others is also considered "western". It's about developement and a similar "culture" (in a broad sense, since our cultures differes greatly. But "western culture" is still different from "eastern", i.e. Russian culture etc.)

Now I'm off to google. Or I'll just ask my geography-teacher (yes, I can be lazy...)

[Tom Lennox 70]

I included Scandivania in my definition of the West since most of the countries there are in the old Western bloc during the Cold War.

[Marodi]

I consider the west to be those that are

1) European Countries
2) English as the primary language countries that were part of the english empire in North america or australia areas (aka not India)

[El Rhino]

I would say it's pretty much anywhere settled/largely inhabited by people descended from European Christandom or being very close in culture. This includes:


- Most of Europe, with the exception of maybe Muslim Bosnia and Albania.

- The United States

- Canada

- Brazil

- Argentina

- Chile

- Uruguay

- Australia

- New Zealand

- Armenia. Yes, Armenia. I consider their culture to be essentially European as opposed to their Middle Eastern neighbors.

- I would also say that Japan and South Korea are part of "the West", based solely on lifestyle and attitudes of the people who live there.

[internat]

Those countries are obviously western although Finland the least so. Scandinavia is Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The other countries mentioned are Nordic but not Scandinavian countries which you should anyway know.

Originally Posted by Sweden

What happened to the other Scandinavian countries such as Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland? We're western too.

[internat]

I believe that is a misconception. There are Christian minorities living in the Middle East, which is a more heterogeneous region than you seem to imply. The term Middle East was popularised around 1900 in Britain. Besides, Tehran (capital of Iran) is a far more western looking (at least as compared to the western cities of the New World) city than Yerevan, capital of Armenia. It is also much more developed and modern. The religious regulations are mostly a public affair. Countries once considered part of the west can become eastern depending on political systems.

Originally Posted by El Rhino

- Armenia. Yes, Armenia. I consider their culture to be essentially European as opposed to their Middle Eastern neighbors.

[WildWestDude]

You guys also need a history lesson.
Where is Greece and Italy on your lists? Thats where the west got started.
There is nothing more western than the Acropolis and its culture that exists til this day!