Sentence:  Political interference in Africa and <WSD>Asia</WSD> and even in Latin America ( though limited in Latin America by the special interest of the United States as expressed in the Monroe Doctrine , itself from the outset related to European politics and long dependent upon the `` balance of power '' system in Europe ) was necessary in order to preserve both common economic values and the European `` balance '' itself . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  the largest continent with 60% of the earth's population; it is joined to Europe on the west to form Eurasia; it is the site of some of the world's earliest civilizations