Europe and the United States West (Europe and the United States) wielded disproportionately greater economic and political power than other areas in the world By the start of the 1900s, œthe West (Europe and the United States) wielded disproportionately greater economic and political power than other areas in the world, as evidenced by the number of colonies accumulated by the Western powers in Asia and Africa. Why did the West come to dominate so much of the world? What events during the late 1700s and the 1800s promoted and enabled the West to ascend such heights of power? What circumstances prevented the populations of Africa from successfully resisting the gradual encroachment of Westerners onto their lands?