Is being Western the only way to be modern?
It depends on what you consider «Westernization.» For example, is women’s equality Westernization or modernization? I think you can make a strong argument that it becomes a kind of necessary offshoot of modernization, because in this kind of a society, where you have an economy that is open to talent, you have technology that allows women to spend less of their lives taking care of children. A society that doesn’t let women work will be at a big disadvantage to one that does. So I don’t think this is a matter of Western values being imposed on other people. I think that is simply what happens if you move to a more modern society.
