I wanted to respond to Clint's entry about Japan's move toward adapting to the American way of life...
It seems to me that America has established itself as the dominant world power so firmly that other cultures may view our ways of life as "correct". It is quite feasible to believe that other societies are molding their culture to mimic ours - the English language is unofficially recognized as the universal language of the world, so it doesn't surprise me that other aspects of our culture are beginning to invade foreign societies. If President Bush was able to state in response to the war on terrorism that those countries who do not side with us, are against us (a statement that implies that should you not side with us, you are not only against us but also that you are in the wrong), then why can't our society send messages to others that should they not mock our way of life, they are socioculturally in the wrong?
There are various motivating factors creating these changes, including the obvious economic dominance of our country. Other countries recognize how affluent our society is (or at least appears to be), and attempt to follow suit by doing as we do. It also may be that America recognizes other countries' willingness to follow our cultural lead and thus uses this to its economic advantage - for example, the popularity of McDonalds in Japan.
I don't think that Japan is the only country following this path. American influence is so widespread that it is impossible for the rest of the world to ignore it, if not succumb to it. Although I don't think societies will lose all of their unique features, we shouldn't be surprised when certain aspects of our culture appear in foreign societies.