Western Civilization

The author, Robert B. Marks introduces the book, The Origins of the Modern World by introducing the reader to a global narrative of the origins of the modern world starting from 1400 to the present. The book presents the rise of the west as an issue of globalization of Asia, Africa, and the New World. Throughout the book, we see the connection made by the author between the environmental condition and the present economic status of a particular place. By the end of the book, readers are able to understand and reason out what created and solidified a gap between the east and the west, industrialized and non-industrialized and parts of the world that today are defined as the modern world.

China before the 1800s was very isolated. The West comes in and gains control by selling Opium to the Chinese for tea and silk. This was nowhere fair, eventually, China wanted to ban this trade that led to war. The Royal Navy’s modernized ships versus poor china’s unadvanced ships, I wonder who won. China was forced into the world of modernization. The British came in and reshaped China like it was clay, with no regard to the natives. This eventually leads to some failed rebellions. These past three examples are how western modernization helped or ruined countries, and that it isn't always black and

For this reason, Pope Loe IX led other church officials in implementing reform efforts that would see ensure that the church could get back its lost power. For this reason, Pope Loe IX gave orders to the Roman Catholic clergy to dismiss the church officials that had taken part in selling church offices, and to renounce their wives (McKay et al., 2014). The orders were essential for ensuring that the church could control the corruption that was becoming rampant in the church. The measures were also essential for sending a message to the secular leaders, which was presumably an indication that they were working on regaining their lost power. After the death of Pope Leo, Gregory VII, Leo’s successor, continued with the reform work based on his ideological foundation (McKay et al., 2014). One of the reforms was the expelling of secular influence within church and the papal institution, which led to the expansion of the papal powers. such reforms solved the problems that the church was facing, which means that they were appropriate for the realization of the predetermined

Sullivan, Richard E., Dennis Sherman and John B. Harrison A Short history of Western Civilization

When reading on the “American Miracle” I would have challenged Mr. Stark to reflect back to the Greeks when they emerged with their inventions and economic development and related them together. The two eras resembled each other as far as: Democracy, literacy, and freedom, both cultures were free to do as they wish which in turn, promotes free thinking and limit pushing to out-do others. City states were unique for the Greeks which helped with the “Greek Miracle”, however to my belief; the most beneficial ties to the miracle were the freedom within, the democracy and the ownership of property in city states. Reading about the “American Miracle” I would agree in part that Mr. Stark’s belief that it was largely due to the Industrial revolution. The industrial revolution perhaps catapulted America to a place where democracy, inventors, freedom, and ownership thrived. It thrived perhaps, largely that people believed in something larger than themselves. Perhaps, Mr. Stark could have expounded on the American Revolution. I also believe

Throughout most of the 1000’s, Europe was the creator of science and art movements, and the pioneer of the industrial revolution, leading the world into a new modern age. Europe's advancements in the past centuries certainly had great benefits for the world, but Europe was not perfect; in fact, it was far from it. Although Europe was one of the worlds greatest advancers, It was also one of the worlds greatest aggressors. Europe was responsible for the transatlantic slave trade, colonizing nearly the entirety of Africa, and the two World Wars.

Civilization: The West and the Rest, presented by Niall Ferguson, is a documentary in which Ferguson reveals what he calls the six killer applications which has helped Western civilization dominate over everyone else. These six applications are competition, science, property, medicine, consumerism, and work. Ferguson asks many questions over the course of the series as well as provides examples as to how Western civilization has surpassed other nations and empires. Ferguson’s main question in each episode is, “If we lose our monopoly over apps like these, could Western civilization be consigned to history.” This paper will analyze Ferguson’s questions and the examples he provides for the killer applications of competition, science, property, medicine, consumerism, and work, as well as his conclusions as to why the West has risen to the top, how the rest are passing up the West, as well as his conclusions to if the West can remain above the rest.

The Great Divergence is term used to portray the gradual shift of dominance that Europe gained by establishing itself as the most powerful world civilization by the 19th century. While a case could be made that the Great Divergence occurred because of the pre-eminence of Europe and Britain, as well as their supposed superiority in invention and innovation above anywhere else in the world, this argument is flawed. A more compelling argument would be to state that it was rather through the geographical advantages that Europe obtained that lead it into eventually becoming the most powerful civilization after 1500 A.D., as this essay will strive to demonstrate.

The rise of the West refers to a period of time when Western Europe rose to power due to many environmental, political, and social factors. Many historians attribute the Rise of the West to the time period of 1450 to 1850. This power surge of Western Europe has been attributed to the global dominance of Western Europe and America in the 21 century. The interesting aspect regarding the Rise of the West is how Western Europe developed so differently from other parts of the world, leading it to be the superpower of the world. Over the past 50 years, the idea of the rise of the West has been closely re-examined. Prior to the 1950s, historians believed that the rise of the West occurred because it was destined to; because Europe is the best and

Western culture and policies have shaped the modern world, especially the Middle East, in many ways. Since the sixteenth century, the nations of Western civilization have been the driving wheels of modernization. Globalization is simply the spread of modern institutions and ideas from one high power to the wider world. Technological innovation and economic growth along with such concepts as democracy, individualism, and the rule of law administered by an impartial judiciary, set Western societies above and beyond any possible rival. Other cultures looked to the West as a model, a threat, or some combination of both. One country that was most successful in their confrontations with Western states was Japan, who incorporated Western

In the book, “Civilization: The West and the Rest,” author Niall Ferguson explores ancient and modern civilizations in an attempt to create an understanding of why they are important, what they are, why Europe and the United States dominate everyone else and asks the question, is Asia going to take the lead and leave the West trailing behind? Ferguson makes it clear that the West was not just given the superiority they had in economics, science, culture or military. He actually points out that for different amounts of time the Chinese, Ottoman, and Aztec civilizations had the most lavish lifestyles, strongest militaries, the wisest rulers, the longer lifespans, the best technology and many other things that the West were lacking in. Even so,

In conclusion Marks attempt to discredit the rise of the West to cultural superiority but instead to accidents, conjectures, and contingencies, does not give enough credit to Europe's ability to maximize its potential despite an inferior geographical position. From creating

Looking back at the world in the past few hundred years, it would have been difficult to imagine that one day, majority of Western Europe would come to dominate the world in global economy (Landes, European Exceptionalism: A Different Path, 1998). Frank (2001) described the process of which the western society

First, I agree that the Western civilization has a clear lineage that focuses on the majority of the following attributes: competition/innovation, science, property rights, personal freedoms, and a free-market economy. Ferguson (2014) points out that competition, property oriented government and science are some of the unique attributes that enabled the West rise to power. As a result of competition, the western people became more innovative and business-oriented, thus, making them aggressive in areas

He emphasizes that although the West is still strong and growing in many areas, other civilizations are growing at a faster rate. Asian civilizations are booming both economically and in their military strength and the Muslim culture is spreading demographically, while the West is becoming increasingly preoccupied with its own internal problems such as crime, government deficits, drug abuse, and a declining work ethic. Huntington uses graphs and charts very effectively in this section of his book to visually depict the decline of the West’s population, territory, and economic influence.