Civilization: Is the West History?

Episode 1

Competition

47 mins

Professor Niall Ferguson investigates now western civilization came to dominate the world. Built by economic challenges and environmental fears, the west today is also waking up to a growing eastern challenge to its political and military supremacy. The evidence is in China, the biggest and fastest industrial revolution ever, compressed into just 30 years. A self confident one-party state, a culture re-asserting itself on the world stage after its supremacy 600 years ago, when they last led the world. In the 16th century Competition rose in Europe where they had small countries and city states which competed against each other in inventions and world exploration, whilst China looked inward and only had one leader over a vast area. They lost out on making money from trading and exploring.