Originally published in 1978, Said's groundbreaking book offers a new conceptual framework for understanding the Western colonial exploitation of Asia and the Middle East. "The Orient," he argues, is not a real place but a Western idea created to justify the export of Western civilization. Said shows how European culture gained strength and identity by comparing itself to this more primitive "opposite" and calls for the West—including politicians, academics and cultural institutions—to account for their actions and assumptions. Orientalism has had a profound impact, prompting there-examination of beliefs about everything from global power dynamics and the legacies of colonialism to Western political, economic, and cultural dominance.