ication. At first, it would have been unimaginable how America could become the most powerful nation because of the geographic position in the world; Europe was in the center of it all. When America was able to meet, communicate, trade and take knowledge easier from the rest of the world, her geographic position became supreme and also the nation became supreme. This obvious occurrence, which in 1999 is not so shocking, sparked many countries to ignore the emergence of grand technology in the nineteenth century to save their heritage.Maybe it is still shocking to nations today. For example, the Chinese government announced in 1996 their rules that were intended to increase control over cyberspace by forcing computer networks to use only the approved links, and they forbade the spread of information that could hinder public order (Golding, 1). When America met China for the first time after easy new communication and easy transportation were developed, the Chinese merely tolerated the Americans and the Americans the Chinese (Iriye, 11). The Chinese remained insensitive to new ideas and changes the Westerners wanted to bring. Japan, on the other hand, was more isolated than China, but open to new ideas. When the West arrived in Japan, they were very receptive of foreign culture and ready to learn from the West because of their pragmatic view of the world. The Japanese engaged in a serious debate, lasting over half a century, on maintaining foreign contact (Iriye, 11). In the end, trade and commerce did open up to Japan, and later the flow of cultures. Although Great Britain was still the hegemonic power in the early twentieth century, the world was looking at America wondering what it would do next. As communication helped the word spread about this land of opportunity more and more people wanted to immigrate, or at least come to America to see what all the talk was about.Many Chinese and Japanese came to the United States and ...
