East-West dichotomy

In sociology, the East–West dichotomy is the perceived differences between the Eastern world and Western cultures. Cultural rather than geographical in division, the boundaries of East and West are not fixed, but vary according to the criteria adopted by individuals using the term. Historically, Asian and Islamic nations have been regarded as East, while Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Latin America and the United States are regarded as West. Used in discussing such studies as management, economics, international relations and linguistics, the concept is criticized for overlooking regional hybridity.

Conceptually, the boundaries are cultural, rather than geographical, as a result of which Australia is typically grouped in the West, while Islamic nations are, regardless of location, grouped in the East. The culture line can be particularly difficult to place in regions of cultural diversity such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose citizens may themselves identify as East or West depending on ethnic or religious background. Further, residents of different parts of the world perceive the boundaries differently; for example, some European scholars define Russia as East, but most agree that it is the West's second complimentary part, and Islamic nations regard it and other predominantly Christian nations as the West.

The concept has been utilized in both "Eastern" and "Western" nations. Japanese sinologist Tachibana Shiraki in the 1920s wrote of the need to unify with China and some other Asian nations (excluding Central Asia and the Middle East) in forming a "New East" that might combine culturally in balancing against the West. Japan continued to make much of the concept, known as Pan-Asianism, through World War II, in propaganda. In China, it was encapsulated during the Cold War in a 1957 speech by Mao Zedong, who launched a slogan when he said, "This is a war between two worlds. The West Wind cannot prevail over the East Wind; the East Wind is bound to prevail over the West Wind."

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