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How's about this:
The ancient societies mentioned here fell because they were unwilling/unable to change. They thought they had it all figured out and were perfect. Something changes in their environment (sudden appearance of barbarian hordes, gradual removal of all forests), and the old system doesn't work anymore. If you are then unable to change, you die.
Think about it: you *know* that what your father did was the right way to do things, and you know that your children will have to do the same. You just don't notice gradual changes if they're gradual enough. Rapid, sudden changes are also deadly: you just don't know what to do, and usually cannot come up with an answer quickly enough.
- Ancient Egypt: they continued to depend on foreign payments; previously, they simply marched their army into neighboring countries, and threatened to do it again unless paid. When these countries changed, and became able to stop the invaders, the gold ran out. With it, the Egyptian society collapsed, because they didn't want to change.
- Rome: they had no real answer to modern hit-and-run tactics from the tribes in Northern-Europe, and the steppe nomads from the east. They had grew more and more dependent on slave labor over the centuries, and when the supply of slaves ran out, they couldn't change rapidly enough to stop the eventual collapse of the empire.
etc.
As for the Western culture: it seems able to change rapidly, but for some countries, the whole environmental issue may be their downfall (unwilling to adopt new technologies in that area). The globalization/westernization thing isn't an issue, because it is not *forced* onto other people, as some claim it is; it's a simple byproduct of being the dominant world culture.
I think we've got a better chance of survival, simply because the Western culture has *always* been changing and adapting.
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