Most influential Nation in history?

[aronnax]

That's not how people look at it. The disparaging view of the French is an Anglo-American bias, and you lapped it all up, unsurprisingly. What is Singapore but a pawn of the British and then of the US?

Ya know, i already apologize to steph for theat French thing so please stop harping on it.......


Oh and we are as much as a pawn of the US as North Korea is gonna give up commuinism and join South Korea in democracy

 

[Steph]

wow @ the civil law bit, france has been really influential there

It has been even more so with the metric system.
What I find interesting here, is the civil law and the metric system were not really imposed, but rather adopted because they were an improvment from what was available before.

for language, wouldn't a population argument be better? Sand doesn't speak much.

Not so simple, as China is the language spoken by the most people, but the Chinese language is seldom use outside of China, therefore the Chinese language as little influence.
Hence the weighted influence system used in the link I provided. English is the obvious winner, French is second with Spanish close behind and catching.

France is on a par with Britian and ( above the US IMO) obviously, but I would still say britian has more influence, hmm, then again paris was trhe centre of a lot of european philosophy. They are quite equal.

Oh, I do also thing that Britain had a bit more influence than France in the past (19th early 20th) Today, it's not so easy as Britain influence is "masked" by the US. I mean, when Australia goes in Iraq, is it influence by US? UK? Both?

An interesting point is that French and English influence have often been in conflict (Continental Europe, Africa, North America, India), so we are indeed on par, as the influence of France and/or Great Britain was a result of a competition between the two countries.

 

[Plotinus]

Often it can be hard to tell the difference, though. For example, many aspects of Enlightenment thought originated in Britain but were nurtured in France or the Netherlands. French philosophers such as Voltaire were enormously impressed by Locke and Newton, and it was their championing of these ideas which helped to spread them elsewhere - such as in Germany - since all intellectuals communicated in French.

 

[Rossiya]

since all intellectuals communicated in French.

And before that, in Latin, showing the Romans' influence.

 

[aelf]

Militarily speaking, Singapore models itself on Israel.

And the military is a big aspect of Singaporean life, isn't it? Singapore is also pro-Israeli when it comes to foreign policy.

However, I think it's a bit harsh to criticise Singapore for being a "pawn". The place is the size of the Isle of Wight. And I'd say it has far more influence and power - of the economic variety - than you'd expect of such a tiny country. Plus, of course, per capita, it is one of the most prosperous countries in the world, with one of the longest average lifespans, everything there is efficient and works properly, the streets are clean and safe, the parks are beautiful, the grass is green and the girls are pretty. It's certainly one of the best places in the world to live. I suspect that it will become more influential in the future as a model of how to run a city or indeed a country.

I'm not questioning the economic success of Singapore or the quality of life, though the actual extent of the latter is debatable. It is certainly not one of the best places to live in the world if you're not merely looking for security and convenience (it's not that convenient either). But Singapore cannot and will not oppose the US, no matter which President is in power. They will parrot and reiterate anything the US says, maybe with a touch of Confucianist wisdom and political pragmatism added.

 

[Finmaster]

When looking at current Western society, it is largely based on the philosophical and political developement of France and UK in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the foundation of current shape of society was founded and which spread all over the Europe in the 19th century. Along with them, I voted for Greece, Rome and Melsopotamia for their influence in the cultural developement of the world.

Of course this is more from a European point of view, if I was say Chinese I would propably vote differently.

USA's cultural influence might be big but I still see it more as continuation to the already-existing Western cultural domination which has its foundations in the developement of France and UK.

 

[ZB2]

Rome.
..........

 

[dutchking]

UK all the way...

 

[steveedster]

Will I voted for Britain, mainly due to the industrial revolution, spread of language, sciences, colonies which became nations and other discoveries. I feel that Britain had the most direct influence on the modern world we live in (20th century onwards) due to these reasons, especially the industrial revolution. However this debate can run and run as one could argue that without the renaissance that many cultural historians believe originated in northern Italy in the fourteenth century, the english renaissance (16th century to the early 17th century) and hence the industrial revolution would never have happened. Each nation no matter how influential is just a link in the chain!

To be honest this is not a debate anyone can really win, however it is interesting and fun!

 

[Quildavyr]

Funny,no one thinks Turks were influental.

 

[magicmoon44]

Rome Rome Rome Rome!!!!

 

[LightSpectra]

Greece is the reason why Western civilization is advanced today. I'd go with them.

Persia for the Middle-East, and China for the East.

 

[Tee Kay]

I'm surprised Arabia and Mongols got so little votes.

 

[dpaajones]

The English and later the British have probably the greatest legacy across the globe in aspects of language, economic and social culture, legal and governmental structures, sporting culture, etc etc! Even today, with a population representing less than 1% of the world's the UK is pretty damn influential. London is once again the greatest financial centre and the British armed forces, though small, are second to the Americans in global scope.

Let us not forget that the Americans are a direct offshoot of the British and are still very closely related to their older cousins..

After the English/British, the Romans come second. It must be admitted that they did contribute much to what became England.

 

[FoxURA]

Greece, Rome, and England were all by far the most influential civilizations in their golden eras but as it stands currently, the United States is by far the most influential nation and has done more to shape the world on a global scale than any other country in history.

Just think about it, what might the world look like today if the United States wasn't there to tip the scale in WWI, beat the tar out of the Axis in WWII (with the help of the other Allies of course), rebuild Japan and help it to become the technological juggernaut that it is today, help rebuild post WWII Europe, spearhead the founding of the UN and push for the creation of modern day Israel and Palestine, act as a counter balance to keep the Soviet union in check, help Afghanistan halt the Soviet invasion, help Iraq resist invasion by Iran, help defend South Korea from the North Korean and Chinese onslaught, building the most used canal in the world through Panama, inventing the computer, invading and liberating Afghanistan and Iraq, and those are just some highlights.

That's not too shabby for a country thats only been in existence for around 200 years.

 

[Traitorfish]

...inventing the computer...

No, that wasn't the US, it was Germany- Konrad Zuse's Z3, built in 1941, is the first device which fulfilled the criteria of being a computer. The American Atanasoff–Berry wasn't completed until 1942.
American scientists made huge contributions to the development of computers of case, more than any other country, but to claim that you "invented" it is simply inaccurate.

 

[germanicus12]

Well they did invent the first car....

 

[dpaajones]

Yes the Germans did!

 

[Antilogic]

The problem with modern technology is its complexity and its refinement. Any time you say "X invented the Y!" somebody can post a response with a guy from another country who invented a similar device. And then there is the endless stream of refinements to the technology from various people around the world. Perfect examples of this are televisions, computers, networks, and electronic equipment in general. Another example I've seen are arguments that America developed the Internet as a military project, but the British defense network in WW2 against the German bombers counted as an integrated network and thus it belongs to Britain.

In any case, my vote goes to Greece. Those Rome fanatics can scream Rome all they want, but Greece had an immense influence on Roman culture and not to mention they (okay, Greece & Macedon) spread Hellenism as far as India under Alexander.

 

[steveedster]

Greece, Rome, and England were all by far the most influential civilizations in their golden eras but as it stands currently, the United States is by far the most influential nation and has done more to shape the world on a global scale than any other country in history.

Just think about it, what might the world look like today if the United States wasn't there to tip the scale in WWI, beat the tar out of the Axis in WWII (with the help of the other Allies of course), rebuild Japan and help it to become the technological juggernaut that it is today, help rebuild post WWII Europe, spearhead the founding of the UN and push for the creation of modern day Israel and Palestine, act as a counter balance to keep the Soviet union in check, help Afghanistan halt the Soviet invasion, help Iraq resist invasion by Iran, help defend South Korea from the North Korean and Chinese onslaught, building the most used canal in the world through Panama, inventing the computer, invading and liberating Afghanistan and Iraq, and those are just some highlights.

That's not too shabby for a country thats only been in existence for around 200 years.

Yes but the USA would not have come into being without the British Empire colonies etc etc, you could also say this is British influence and that the USA is merely an offshoot of the British Empire. A new branch of the tree, however with the same roots so to speak.

Also in WW1, Germany was reaching breaking point before the Americans became involved, not saying that they never helped, however the outcome would have been along the same lines with or without them, it may have took slightly longer thats all. The USA has however had unparralleled influence from ww2 onwards. Also ' inventing the computer' cannot really be put down to America. The first computer recognized by many experts these days is the z3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z3) from 1941 Germany. The first design of a computer came much earlier (Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine in the 1830s, Britain) however this was never developed.