Sentence:  Especially given the continued dominance of the developed North, there is some cause for concern that a creeping cultural homogenization will leave us with only a bland, <WSD>mid-Atlantic</WSD> culture where local identities once flourished. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (Used as an attributive modifier in compounds such as "mid-Atlantic accent" and "mid-Atlantic English"): half-American, half-European; combining American and European elements.