# Who would be the world's WORST superpower? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893 "2005-10-19T13:43:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893/21 "2005-10-19T19:34:31Z")
> [@](#): > > The entire country…must wear capes! Actually, there was story in Superman circa 1960 where he visits a country where the dictator (who looks suspiciously like Adolf Hitler) forces _everyone_ to wear Superman costumes. Superman is able to go in “undercover” by wearing his costume. But he fails to notice the one difference in his costume, and is found out. As for the worst superpower – what if it turned out to be **Sealand**? ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893/22 "2005-10-20T00:27:25Z")
China ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893/23 "2005-10-20T03:10:47Z")
I must agree with the OP about Saudi Arabia. North Korea is horrible but they’re not trying to spread Communism all over the world. The Wahabists are busy exporting their crappy philosophies everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893/24 "2005-10-20T03:22:26Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > I must agree with the OP about Saudi Arabia. North Korea is horrible but they’re not trying to spread Communism all over the world. The Wahabists are busy exporting their crappy philosophies everywhere. I don’t want to turn this into a debate, but North Korea _can’t_ export its craziness at the level of Saudi Arabia. That’s because they don’t have the Saudi’s billions and billions of dollars of oil revenue. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893/25 "2005-10-20T04:50:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, there was story in Superman circa 1960 where he visits a country where the dictator (who looks suspiciously like Adolf Hitler) forces _everyone_ to wear Superman costumes. Superman is able to go in “undercover” by wearing his costume. But he fails to notice the one difference in his costume, and is found out. Okay, now I’ve got to know. What was the one difference? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893/26 "2005-10-20T05:11:43Z")
Has nobody said Iran yet? They’d be awful. > [@PeterWiggen](#): > > I don’t want to turn this into a debate, but North Korea _can’t_ export its craziness at the level of Saudi Arabia. That’s because they don’t have the Saudi’s billions and billions of dollars of oil revenue. They don’t have much ideological craziness, in my opinion. They’ve just got “Kim is great, and can do anything he wants.” “Oh, and let’s unify the Koreas.” It’s sort of a bad joke version of Stalinist Russia. I’ll take this from the ineptitude angle, rather than evil: Baathist Iraq would’ve been very very bad. Saddam had a habit of pissing everybody off and getting into wars he absolutely couldn’t win. A very deluded man. And you still have the negatives of a personality cult and a brutal dictatorship. If you think the Bush kids are bad, Uday and Qusay had them beat by light years. Still, rents were reasonable. I also think the present Iraqi government would also be a bad superpower. Come to think of it, North Korea has at least one card to play in the ‘ineptitude’ deck (aside from Kim’s hair). The horrible famines the country has suffered are the government’s fault, are they not? ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893/27 "2005-10-20T06:17:25Z")
Hunh…I came in expecting to see at least three votes for Doug Ramsey… ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893/28 "2005-10-20T09:07:00Z")
Another vote for North Korea—countries like China or Cuba would be bad, but at least their dictatorships have a _semblance_ of competence. (Mostly, anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893/29 "2005-10-20T09:11:04Z")
> [@Hung Mung](#): > > Hunh…I came in expecting to see at least three votes for Doug Ramsey… What about Jubilee? (After all…we _all_ know her agricultural policy positions. And don’t get me started on her ridiculous health care reform scheme!) ---
**Author:** ![UselessGit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/74df32/32.png) [@UselessGit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UselessGit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893/30 "2005-10-20T11:47:33Z")
Israel and Turkmenistan share my vote… although, on second thought, Turkmenbasi would probably be the most entertaining world leader ever. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893/31 "2005-10-20T15:50:51Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > China Why? I’d say Sudan because of human rights issues. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-be-the-worlds-worst-superpower/326893.md?page=1)