The Western civilization has clearly left a mark on the evolution of the humankind, spawning the changes of a tremendous scale in all domains of life, including the cultural, the political, the economic, and the technological landscapes. However, over the past few centuries, the Western civilization has been showing the tendency to use raw force instead of flexibility in communication, which has brought the threat of demise too close.
An array of details points to the fact that the Western civilization has been experiencing a gradual yet inexorable decay. For instance, the West has been thriving on the dependence that the Eastern civilization has had on the western resources for years. Japan used to consider expansion as the tool for addressing the situation, yet the current state of technological advance in the state allows it to be independent of the Western countries (Massachusetts Institute of Technology par. 1). A similar change in the industrial and economic environment in a range of Eastern countries indicates that the Western dominance is likely to face a rapid demise within a comparatively short amount of time.
Apart from promoting inadequate relationships between the two civilizations as the premises for the further communication, the western world proved its faults that are bound to become detrimental to its development by foisting its values on the people that happened to be under its rule, leaving barren fields behind and triggering truly devastating effects for its eastern neighbors. The fight for territory that started with a tight competition and was finally blown out of proportions in the early 20th century caused millions of deaths, proving once again that the power of the Western civilization hinged on fear and, therefore, was going to be rather short. For example, an art piece depicting “two of these rivals – Britain on the right, and France on the left – toasting one another while standing on piles of skeletons” (Strayer 926) points clearly to the fact that the dominance of the West was based purely on the power of force (New York Public Library par. 3). More importantly, the power mentioned above was not used wisely; instead, it was used in a most brutal manner, such as the influence of the notorious KGB (“Soviet Archives Exhibit” par. 3).
Similarly, the atrocious events that left a stigma of shame on the map of the Western history, such as the Holocaust and the discrimination that the Jewish population witnessed at the time (“American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise” par. 2), clearly point to the fact that the leaders of the states used the force-based approach that could not possibly lead to any positive outcomes, neither could it create premises for successful communication between the representatives of the states. The identified approach creates a striking contrast to the peaceful philosophies of the East, such as Gandhi’s one (Gandhi Research Foundation par. 1).
One might argue, however, that the evolution of the Western culture is far from being over, as several pieces of historical evidence show quite graphically. For instance, the fact that the tragic events of the past have been labeled as crimes against humanity and mistakes that are never to be committed again. In other words, the western world has evidently shown its ability to recognize the errors of its ways and make amends when necessary. Furthermore, it would be quite a stretch to claim that the Eastern civilization has never made any fatal mistakes, such as the promotion of Communism by Mao Zedong (Marxists Internet Archive par. 20). Nevertheless, the faults in the model used by the Western civilization do not allow it retain its supremacy for too long. Unless a flexible model that will allow for the coexistence of and the compromises between the two civilizations is created, the Western and the Eastern worlds are likely to end in a clash.
Works Cited
American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. The Holocaust. n. d. Web.
Gandhi Research Foundation. Philosophy. n. d. Web.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Black Ships and Samurai. n. d. Web.
New York Public Library. The Challenge of Decolonization in Africa. n. d. Web.
Soviet Archives Exhibit. n. d. Web.
Strayer, Robert W. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Combined Volume. 2nd Ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. Print.