Any student knows that the Earth is round, and all sides of the world are only conditional. So why are Asian countries called countries of the East so far? Well, in Europe, but in the same way they are also called in the United States, and even in Australia! Although for them this region is more likely in the west or in the north than in the east. In turn, why Australia is not an Eastern country for Europeans, but neighboring Indonesia is already quite the East?
The answer to all these questions, as well as to many others, lies in the historical past of our world. Why? Asian countries have been called the countries of the East since the time when Europeans only got acquainted with the surrounding continents and made their epoch-making discoveries. After all, it was the Europeans in the New Age that not only connected all six continents of the Earth into a single world, but also imposed on everyone their vision of this world.
It is not surprising that militarily powerful Europe has become the center, and all other civilizations - only the periphery. When we say this today, it is simply said that Eurocentrism is ingrained in us. And rest in the Far East, by the way, still attracts Europeans with its ancient legends about the extraordinary exotic of these countries. At the same time, the states created by Europeans in the same region, such as Australia, are not considered Eastern at all because of their European, but not Eastern culture. As we see, geography is not always the case.
Asian-Pacific area
However, it should be borne in mind that "countries of the Asia-Pacific region" is a concept that encompasses a slightly different geographical region, and also has a slightly different emotional coloring. The Asia-Pacific region includes the states of four continents (Asia, Australia, North and South America) with access to the Pacific Ocean. The countries of Oceania also belong to it.
Of course, the geopolitical interest in the Pacific Ocean is common to all these states. This leads, on the one hand, to close political and economic cooperation, and on the other, to periodic conflicts over the resources of the Pacific Ocean and influence in the region. As for the emotional color when mentioning these states, here we return to the question of why Asian countries are called countries of the East. After all, it is no coincidence that in recent years many people in Europe and the American continent have doubted whether to name Japan as the eastern or western country. Or to which world belong South Korea, for example. Here, too, the situation is not so much in the geographical location, but rather in the cultural guise that the country demonstrates to the world. In recent years, the Far Eastern states have demonstrated such high economic, industrial, and social growth based on Western technological effectiveness that it is already difficult to unambiguously attribute them only to eastern civilization. It should nevertheless be borne in mind that Asian countries are still quite devoted to their traditional values, having learned to combine them with Western technologies.
So, back in the late nineteenth century, during the reforms in their country, the Japanese proclaimed the Kokutai doctrine, which can be translated as follows: "Western technology and the Japanese spirit." The full implementation of this doctrine can perhaps be observed only in the second half of the twentieth century and today. They managed to create a viable synthesis of Western democracy and technology with clan fidelity, which became a corporate, and a samurai spirit. Some other countries in Southeast Asia have gone the same way. Actually, this is why Asian countries are called countries of the East.
