Civilizational Space of Orient Countries in the 21st Century: Unique Features and Western Influence

Abstract

This article examines civilizational features of development of Orient countries (with an emphasis on China, Japan and the Korean Peninsula as well as India) that, in the new millennium, are system-forming players in the global political and economic arena striving to achieve leading positions in unofficial ratings of global influence. Having successfully passed the stage of Westernization of social and economic structure and at the same time preserving their own identity, Orient countries have entered the era of expanding globalization as its main beneficiaries. In cultural and historical terms, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea represent a rather unusual combination of Western market-pragmatic and Oriental Confucian-Buddhist models (with elements of national religious and ethical schools in Japan and the Republic of Korea), which determines their high ability to hybridize foreign and their own specific experience of progressive development. The same can be noted about India that is often referred to as a huge Asian democracy, successfully combining Western experience with its original traditions, culture and mentality. However, today even in Japan, historically considered the most Western-centered country in Asia, the attitude towards European and American values based on emphasized individualism, the desire to quickly achieve results without regard to the interests of the partner and the use of not always ethically correct methods of competition, is changing. It is not rejected per se, but mostly manifests in a form of doubt about their universal applicability to the Japanese reality – largely expressed among young people. For the mentality of Orient countries, the “long game” is extremely important, so as the promotion of a development model, according to which the coordinating role of the state as a common mediator, an undoubted authority for an ordinary citizen, major official, and the head of a large corporation, is great in conducting domestic and foreign policy. Nevertheless, interaction with Western ideas and approaches continues, which is why it is premature to say that Orient countries are no longer a subject to any external civilizational influence. The assimilation of Western experience is still relevant, only the forms and perception of this process inevitably change.