Editing Westernization (section)

==Western world==
{{Main|Western world}}
[[File:Western World Latin America torn countries.png|right|thumb|The Western world]]
The West was originally defined as the [[Western world]]. A thousand years later, the [[East-West Schism]] separated the [[Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] from each other. The definition of Western changed as the West was influenced by and spread to other nations. Islamic and Byzantine scholars added to the [[Western canon]] when their stores of Greek and Roman literature jump-started the [[Renaissance]]. The [[Cold War]] also reinterpreted the definition of the West by excluding the countries of the former [[Eastern Bloc]]. Today, most modern uses of the term refer to the societies in the West and their close [[genealogical]], [[natural language|linguistic]], and [[philosophical]] descendants. Typically included are those countries whose ethnic identity and dominant culture are derived from [[Culture of Europe|Western European culture]]. Though it shares a similar historical background, the Western world is not a monolithic bloc, as many cultural, linguistic, religious, political, and economic differences exist between Western countries and populations.