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What is a "westerner"?
Apparently people who speak English
The French, Polish, Dutch, etc. are now reclassified as Asians
I love to poke at people's conception of Western with these questions:
Is New Zealand Western?
Is Japan Western?
Is Brazil Western?
Is South Africa Western?
Is Kenya Western?
Is Lebanon Western?
Is Israel Western?
Is Hungary Western?
Is Finland Western?
Is Russia Western?
Is Armenia Western?
If your nation was within NATO, it's likely western If after the collapse of the USSR, your nation joined EU, it's likely western And anything outside this category would be third world or eastern (Russia, China, Vietnam)
I realise you were just offering a hueristic, but Ironically all of the three countries you listed were Second World nations. (I've also never heard Eastern used in a similar way to Western in the way you used it at the end there before.)
Australia isn't Western then, but Romania is?
That's because east-west is not based on the region, it's based on cultural aspects, along with a few other things like how people communicate. This is why Australia is western as it has a western culture. So, the whole cold war NATO thing is not 100% accurate, but defining first, second, and third world is since those are defined by political ideologies.
Well yes, First (Cold War era capitalists), Second (Communist, Marxist, and Maoist nations), and Third World (non-aligned and all the rest of them) are all clearly defined.
Western is more nebulous, which is why I like to push back at it. Each person's idea of "Western" tends to be a little different.
If we're taking the cultural root then Brazil, Israel and Lebanon make a nice test cases.
Edit: oh, you're making the case that Western = First World Nations. That's a fair and valid short cut, with Japan/South Korea/RoC, and various oost-Communist states in Europe.
Wait was Australia not in NATO? oh shit