I’m surprised nobody posted Kazakhstan.
We would have, but nobody can spell it.
Well obviously it’s less important than it used to be - it used to rule, what, a third or so of the globe? Nowhere to go from there but down. And even though it’s not number 1 (or 2, or 3) right now, the point is that it still punches above its weight. It’s a country with influence, a country that “matters”.
Re. being English-speaking, it just seems to me like a huge advantage in this world. English is the language of so much of global commerce, science, travel, technology, culture, that it’s a leg up if it’s your native tongue. English is probably tops in this regard, but if you at least speak some world language it works out. (With that in mind, France may be a contender for greatest country, or, to a lesser extent, Germany.) Finland, I’m sure, is great - but if you can only speak to 6 million or so other people in your native tongue, it kind of sets you back. (Though considering that most Finns I’ve met are near fluent in English, it may be a moot point…)
But we speak English in the USA. The British speak strange dialect.
In terms of foreign policy, just to give an example, it seems to me that the UK is largely following the US’s lead rather than setting their own path. So I’m not sure they’re all that influential.
British citizens may individually find it helpful to speak English natively, but in terms of the UK being a great country (as defined by the OP, i.e. an influential country that is a force for good in the world), I don’t see what it really changes. Keep in mind that if English is an important international language today, it’s more due to the US than to the UK.
It seems to me that UK influence is largely a thing of the past. (Not that it’s not a good country to live in today, of course. It certainly is.)
It’s really not all that strange; a lot of Canadians, especially retired ones, decamp for Florida or Arizona to take advantage of the weather once they’re done their careers.
Some only go part time, but some just go whole hog.
Canada is a wonderful country but the weather is unpleasant.
I think it’s astonishingly influential in many arenas. There’s a hell of a lot of “biggest in the world” from the UK. From rock bands to novel series to movie franchises to the theater industry to sports teams … it goes on and on. Sure, it’s not a military giant like the US (but who is?), but it’s a nuke power which makes it effectively uninvadeable (that’s not even a word!), and its forces and intelligence services are top-notch. It’s home to the biggest broadcaster on the planet, London’s financial district is one of the three financial capitals of the world (NY, Tokyo, London), it has enormous cultural cachet.. the list goes on. The largest TV show on the planet (American Idol) - produced and created by, and until recently starring, Brits.
I certainly wouldn’t say it’s the greatest, but one cannot deny it has an astonishing amount of influence in the world which belies its size. It punches far, far above its weight. Heck, I saw Americans talking about Jedward on this board today, something I never thought could happen!
I don’t think the UK’s influence is in the past. It’s present now in so very many areas.
“I do not say, my Lords, that the French will not come. I say only they will not come by sea”-Admiral Jervis
That’s a matter of opinion.
You know what they say about opinions …
Seeing as you totally forgot Spain, I’d say that you havent put much thought on the subject.
All of your qualifiers could apply to France. And, yet, it wouldnt cross my mind to call France “the Greatest Nation On Earth” (but as I’m not American, I dont go for schoolyard dick contests reduxes anyway). In fact, if you look at the usual numbers for assessing the “level” of a nation, France and the UK are incredibly close, and have been so for a few decades now.
You cant be so close to France’s level and call yourself “Grandest Nation On God’s Earth”, at least not without a chuckle.
We should never have built that damn Channel Tunnel.
Spanish is not as widely spoken as English. Linky
He didn’t say the UK was the ‘greatest nation on God’s earth’, he was merely pointing out that to say its influence is in the past is wrong. Doesn’t mean France (or Germany, or USA or China or god knows who else) isn’t also influential.
i will also say russia is the greatest nation in the world because of its size, amount of natural resources both tapped and untapped, its great diversity, it’s level of industrial, cultural and intellectual development (somehat late compared with western europe and the US but fast nevertheless.)
lastly, it has the political will to use nukes.
Well, two points:
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I specifically said I wouldn’t call the UK the greatest nation on earth (indeed, you quoted me doing so). I merely disagreed that the UK’s influence was in the past.
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I’d very much disagree that all the qualifiers could apply to France. In fact, of those I listed, only the military qualifiers do.
Svalbard
Sure, but all the plutonium has been stolen out of them by now.
I’m going to have to go for Freedonia.
Where have missionaries ended racial hatred?
Gondwanaland?
I wont list what I think the best country is in the world is.
But I’ll list the top three in no particular order, I’d want to live in if I had to choose.
The U.S., Australia or Canada.