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How important are perceptions to the study of politics? Can we speak of 'pure' Eastern & Western, Northern and Southern political forms?
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In recent times, many Eastern countries have begun to acclaim “Asian Values” as principles for the West to perceive and respect. There may be numerous reasons for this phenomena, however the strongest one would have to be that they feel endangered by the sudden influence of Western culture and demands for democratisation and liberalisation as a result of their past economic expansion. This essay will endeavour to analyse the perceptions and values of the East and West, and also establish why there are different political forms around the world. Also, it is important to realise that there have been many anti-western and anti-eastern attitudes and sentiments since the end of the colonialism which will be examined in this paper. “It is not simply a matter of pitting the virtues of Asia against the vices of the West.” Encouraged by modernisation, global politics is being reconfigured along cultural lines. Political boundaries increasingly are redrawn to agree with cultural ones: ethnic, religious, and civilisational. Cultural communities are replacing Cold War blocs, and the fault lines between civilizations are becoming the central lines of conflict in global politics. Further, Samuel P. Huntington believes that these cultural differences do not facilitate cooperation and cohesion but promote conflicts for a number of reasons. Firstly, everyone has multiple identities, which may compete with or reinforce each other. Secondly, the alienation of cultural identity creates the need for more meaningful identities as the power of non-Western societies stimulate the revitalisation of indigenous identities and culture. Thirdly, identity at any level-personal, tribal, racial, or civilization can only be defined in relation to an "other" as opposed to the "like us". Fourthly, the sources of conflict between states and groups from different civilisations are mostly those which have always generated conflict between groups. Fifthly there is the general prevalence of conflict between States. Just as most nations are aligned with a particular civilization or grouping there are others which have difficulties aligning and finding commonalties amongst societies. The background behind the formation of these ideologies began during the first fifty years of this century which were devoted mostly to ending colonial occupation. This was symbolised by such people as Mahatma Gandhi of India and Aung San of Burma who were rebelling against Western colonialism. Later, the Cold War was marked by protest movements with mixed ideologies lacking a clear commitment to democracy.
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