Awwk!!! Asguard, the Archspace council that exploited a bug in the game to win and force a reset!!! ARRGGHH!!!
Ahem. As for the current question...
I would say that I hope East and West combines to produce a new culture that has all the good sides of the both sides but without the drawbacks...lol we can only hope for such a good result.
The thing about East is...(warning some generalizations coming through BEEP BEEP)...that it tends to care much about the mind and soul, often to such an extent that it forgets about practical things. It forgets that you have to eat to live in its pursuit of mental and spiritual enlightenment. As a result, many Eastern countries stress education a lot.
The thing about West is that it is very practicall, and therefore efficient. But it is too worldly and it often finds voids in people's souls and minds (boy, you should see how dumb some Americans are...only half of them knew that humans and dinosaurs did NOT coexist!!!).
As a result, you see some Westerners taking interest in Eastern Religions and philosophy, and Eastern countries going for 'modernization' (a bit of Western practicality that would bring prosperity...). The trend is that...they will probably assimilate each other.
The only problem is the US. If all countries are equal in power the above scenario should work. But since the US is the only superpower (I know China is fast rising...but not yet) it has more control. America forces open foreign markets and dumps its US culture there to sell, and this is destroying Eastern culture. Also, since America has the prosperity to prove it, Easterners may be led to believe that its culture is also somehow superior. The situation is somewhat unpredictable but it is a bit gloomy. The American definition of globalization is 'making all others Americanish'. That is what the US is telling everyone by its actions.
Any comments?