News - Middle East: A political commentator says Western countries, which have defined and distinguished themselves from other nations and regions by a set of self-describing values, are experiencing a contraction of powers, and that each of their so-called cardinal virtues appears to be at risk with recent transformations.

Manipulations of elections and voter suppression schemes place in doubt the primacy and legitimacy of democratic processes. Immunity of the elite and leadership from accountability or even criminal prosecution contradict the claim that Western nations represent fidelity to an open, transparent and fair judicial system, Saeed Khan, a professor of Near East & Asian Studies & Global Studies and Director of Global Studies at Wayne State University, Detroit, the United States, commented.

He added that the restrictive space given to Muslims in the public sphere of several Western countries exposes the hypocrisy of societies that purportedly promote freedom of expression for all.

While the West is often characterized as being a conglomerate of Europe, North America, north of the Rio Grande River, Australia, New Zealand, and perhaps begrudgingly Japan, it has essentially come to be defined by the Anglophone world. This suggests that most of Europe would not fit into this convenient schematic.

If one is to acknowledge the dominance of the Anglophone world, in particular, the cultural, economic, political, military and social reach, then the United States and postcolonial Great Britain in and of itself and through its Commonwealth of Nations must be seen as forming the current Western zeitgeist. But the Anglophone world has suffered a decline in its dominance, especially over the past two decades, Khan pointed out.