Quote:
Originally posted by Taualumna
Japan opened its doors to the west back in the 1800s. They are, therefore, at least somewhat comfortable with our views and culture and are more willing to cooperate. On the other hand, middle eastern and African countries are constantly in conflict not just with the west, but with themselves.
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Are you kidding? Japan did NOT voluntarily open its doors in the 1800s. Admiral Perry used some very persuasive means to get that going, and cultural differences led to WWII lasting longer than it should have. The last time I checked, Islam is a lot closer to Christianity than Shintoism is.
The huge differences in culture between Japan and the NATO nations was one of the primary factors in the creation of the
Trilateral Commission in the 1970s.
The culture of the Middle East is far closer to European culture, than many people realize. The Europrean Renaisance began when ideas from the Arab world were imported across the Mediterranian. What began to change is that Arabia fell into its own dark age, and the Renaisance never ended.
The resentment in the Arab world today is really against modernity, not against a nation or culture. Western culture, and the US in particular, is viewed as the vesel of modernity. If we weren't there, they (they=jihadists, wahabists, etc.) would just find another scape goat.
There is no credible reason to believe that just because Japan was industrialized, they were easier to assimilate into Western culture. They are still not assimilated into Western culture.