Mongol Western Influence

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As George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Throughout grade school, Western Culture has been taught the American Revolution, the French Civil War and the American Civil War, but it seems as though a significant portion of historical events in the global scheme have been left untaught. The Eurocentric viewpoint, which emphasizes the Western world and blatantly disregards preexisting cultures, has been the primary focal point of historical education. In The Penguin History of the World, J.M. Roberts argues that the Mongols, one of the most powerful and influential empires of the 13th century, impacted global economic practices, political relations, and religious tolerance. Though the Mongols’…show more content…
“In the space of just 200 years, the world has seen a great reversal of fortune: where once Asians held mot of the economic cards, today it is primarily Western countries and Japan.” (Marks, pg. 44). This shift has caused the “major industrialized countries” (Marks, pg. 43) of western world to attain significant power in terms of the world’s economic practices. Entities such as the Group of Seven, or the G7, and the World Trade Organization, have created programs to lessen the gap between the wealthiest and poorest areas of the world. It has failed to progress the poorer nations of the world economically when “the leaders of the industrial world do make the rules, a power that is exercised in part to ensure the continuing wealth and power of the industrialized world.” (Marks, pg. 44) This hierarchical effect of the wealthy determining the economic fates of the poor has had little effectiveness in narrowing the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Instead, the developing countries are creating several treaties and alliances such as the North American Treaty Organization exclude entrance by the under-developed nations. This further expands the reign and monopoly of the western world by excluding influence from the economic weak. Keeping the power in the West has not been implemented recently, but began with Rise of the West and euro-centrism
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