Originally posted by Kennelly
UK on 3rd is a little surprising.
I don't think so; Britain still "punches above its weight" (forgive the cliche) for a bunch of reasons, including educational links, the rising ratings of the BBC over CNN, the vast levels of investment abroad, great actors, sex kittens like Kate Beckinsale and Kate Winslet...
Truthfully, I think this list reflects not just theoretical power (e.g. nukes) but power actually used and applied, whether financial, military or just plain influential:
1. The United States of America
2. China
3. Germany (european economy gets a chill when they sneeze)
4. Russia (which depends an awful lot on german sneezes)
5. Japan
6. The UK
7. India
8. Sa'udi Arabia
9. France
10. Los Estados Unidos de Mexico (diplomatically and economically more relevant than Brazil)
Can I put the world bank in at #7.5?
Canadians (of which I am one) may be deluded into thinking our economy makes us powerful - since it's not like anything else does - but our economy is (happily) almost totally dependent on direct trade with the US, so we probably punch below our economic weight in the rest of the world as a result.
Where else would I want to live? These days, with Canada as turgid as it is, the list of good alternatives is long. But my top 3 are:
#1 - The UK, since I'm first gen from there
#2 - The US - provided it was Oregon, Washington, California, Chicago, New York, Washington DC or New England. Rural america scares the crap out of my mildly libertarian British Columbian self unless it's a nice, well-treed Pacific Northwest rural
And, ringing in at #3, but a close third indeed, is...
The British Virgin Islands!
