ildella on Nostr: I'll give it a shot 😉 The West has become US + western european countries in 1945 ...

I'll give it a shot 😉

The West has become US + western european countries in 1945 because US invaded and conquered Italy and Germany and took over the UK empire and what was left of France and the rest of european nations. All of them, in one form or the other. The eastern countries for obvious reasons just after 1990.

Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and so on are sovereign countries. Italy, Germany are not, or not completely at least. As is not Japan - which despite a very different history and ethnicity is sometimes considered part of the "collective west".

The West is really the "cultural" or "soft power" name for American Empire. As Nato is the military name. European Union is the legislative / economic facade of basically the same thing, plus the convenient "one phone number to call them all".

Nothing is indeed determined by race - or let alone religion. Both are just a tool used if and when needed, to project power.

Is not a cultural thing, but a "power" thing. US conquered most of europe in the past 80 years, because Europe for many reason was and still is the most important geographical area on the planet. The same thing cannot be said for south america which is why the current status quo in terms of US influence (or cultural assimilation) did not change and is not going to be in the coming decades. It's more than enough to keep the area in chaos enough so no regional power can emerge. This is one of the very few permanent US geo-strategic objectives, everywhere since almost forever. That's the reason why US did fought 2 WWs and one cold war to keep Europe from another power to take over (Germany, USSR or god-forbid a combination of the two) and is why is still fighting the proxy war in Ukraine today.