Political scientists, analysts from various international rating agencies and other experts evaluating the power and influence of different countries of the world, so far have not been able to develop common criteria that would help them to clearly and unequivocally rank leading states by importance. We present to you the resulting top ten most influential countries in the world.
10. Brazil
The largest country in Latin America (both by territory and by population), Brazil has huge potential for economic growth. Among other things, this state has a fairly long democratic tradition - since 1889 it has officially been a republic with a bicameral parliament, and ratified its first constitution in 1824 (!). Naturally, Brazil has a huge impact on the entire South American continent. In addition, she is a member of such leading international organizations as the UN, G20, WTO, the Union of South American Nations, etc. (where they carefully listen to her voice), and is also a member of BRICS - one of the most influential economic unions in the modern world.
9. India
A very densely populated country (the second largest population in the world after China), it is usually located “on the periphery” of attention, quite rarely getting into the top of world news. And yet, without India, the world could have been completely different: firstly, today it is the fastest growing economy on the planet with the most promising potential for the future (though, after the recent monetary reform and the ensuing financial crisis, the country experienced a real economic “ knockout ", but, it seems, she will still be able to maintain a leading position); secondly, it is still one of the nuclear powers, and it is constantly upgrading its nuclear weapons (as well as conventional ones - tanks, planes, navy, etc.); thirdly, Indian high-tech experts are snapping up all over the world. By the way, are you aware that a camel regiment still serves on the Indian border with Pakistan?
8. Israel
A small state with a population of 8.5 million people, surrounded on all sides by Arab (and often very unfriendly) countries, however, has a huge impact on world politics - remember at least the powerful Jewish lobby in the US Senate. Israel boasts a strong economy, a very high level of education and a high standard of living. The per capita income of its citizens gives rise to envy for residents of even many European countries. The Israeli army occupies the eighth position in the world in number (168 thousand people + 408 thousand in reserve), and in terms of combat effectiveness, perhaps, it can claim to be in the top five. In addition, the country (albeit informally) owns 80 nuclear warheads. Israel receives the main income from the development of various high-tech equipment, the production of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, tourism and the diamond trade.
7. Japan
The relatively small territory of the island nation holds 127 million inhabitants (this is one of the highest population density in the world). More recently, the Japanese economy ranked 2nd in the world, but, due to growing competition (as well as the devastating tsunami of 2011 and the history of Fukushima), now it most often does not rise above 5th position. Nevertheless, the country remains one of the generally recognized leaders in the creation and development of new technologies, in the production of automobiles and steel, in terms of currency stability, etc. By the way, Japan ranks 6th in the world in terms of spending on army and weapons, but its constitution limits the growth of the armed forces and their participation in military operations outside of Japanese territories. As for the cultural influence of Japan on the world: just go to the Internet - a wide variety of manga, anime and (sorry, my God!) Hentai will immediately reveal a huge number (like their fan clubs, cosplay photo shoots of Japanese girls and much more).
6. France
France, of course, is not the same as in the colonial era, or even during the time of Charles de Gaulle, but, nevertheless, it is a powerful European power, the second most influential in the EU (after Germany), one of the five founding countries called the "nuclear club" (the French were able to successfully "cling" to the winners in World War II!), one of the leading exporters of weapons in the world, etc. France has a veto power in the UN Security Council, has a large and quite combat-ready army and navy (the weapons for which it, by the way, produces itself), still has a huge impact on many African countries (which, in fact, doesn’t “sound good” to it recently in the form of a powerful stream of new - most often, very dark - “French”, some of whom, with a cry of “Allahu akbar!” from time to time, try to blow something up). Her military is constantly taking part in peacekeeping missions around the world. The cultural influence of France on the rest of the world does not need proof, - remember at least 3 phrases: French fashion, French cinema and French wine.
5. Germany
The largest European country in terms of population (after the unification of the GDR and the FRG in 1990) is the economic center of the continent and the most influential state of the European Union. The German economy is consistently ranked third in the world. Germany has a powerful army (although, according to some information leaking into the media, in the armed forces of the country lately everything is not as good as its leadership would like). Germany is a member of all major international organizations (UN, NATO, G20, OECD, etc.) and is one of the most respected arbitrators on the world stage. By the way, Germany is one of the most popular countries for emigration, due to the high quality of life of the population and social policy very loyal to new citizens. And if it weren’t for two world wars (which, frankly, were Germany and unleashed, with the complicity or demonstratively “see nothing” of other world powers), it is still unknown which state would now be at “No. 1 position in the world” . It is quite possible to imagine just Germany in this role, and the USA - only the leading country in the Western hemisphere of the planet.
4. UK
In the old days, the sun never set over the vast British Empire - "mistress of the seas". The current state of Great Britain is much more modest in size, and now it (oh, thank God!) Has eroded the former ability to impose its adamant will on other countries at all costs (not by persuasion, but by military force). Nevertheless, both the political and cultural influence of Britain in the world is still very great and undeniable. True, lately it has been “shaken” by political and economic “turbulence” - all because of a referendum in which citizens of the country suddenly took and even voted to leave the EU (the so-called Brexit), despite the fact that they are very actively discouraged from this step. And yet Britain is a nuclear power, a member of the UN Security Council, a member of NATO, the WTO, G20 and G7, etc., etc. She does not have a very powerful army, but the 5th largest navy in the world. You can talk about the cultural influence of this country on the rest of the world for hours: science, music, cinema, the media, even the English language itself are the most direct agents of such “soft power”.
3. China
One of the oldest civilizations, which has long had a huge impact on all its neighbors, today it has the second largest economy in the world (according to experts, by 2050 it will firmly occupy the 1st position) and is rightly considered a great power. The country's population is growing at an accelerated pace (today it is already 1.4 billion people), while its well-being is increasing every year. The "Chinese economic miracle" has not yet been admired by the lazy. Western experts are especially amazed at the fact that China is a socialist country with a planned economy, which is still successfully managed by the Chinese Communist Party. The country has armed forces of nearly 2.2 million people (plus more than 500 thousand in reserve) and spends more than 215 billion dollars on defense annually. The PRC is a nuclear power (it has approximately 270 warheads), has recently been actively exploring space, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a member of the WTO, APEC, BRICS, etc. This is one of the few states that "have the audacity" not only not to pay attention to the opinion of the United States, but even rather hard to put them in their place.
2. Russia
Despite the fact that the leading world media for almost the past 20 years daily repeated, like a mantra, that Russia is a wild country, and its army is supposedly in decline, and the demographic crisis is obvious, and “the economy is torn to shreds” (as surely the “darkest” president of the United States declared), for some reason, our “western partners” continue to seriously fear that we will suddenly take and attack - we will take over the Baltic states, “enslave” Poland, and invade Norway (who else would explain why do we need this?). It’s just that, in spite of all the attempts of Western politicians and journalists to explain to their people that “everything is bad in Russia, it’s really bad, it’s the real Mordor”, from time to time our country puts the whole world into a stupor with the latest news: it turns out that we suddenly the army was modernized (and to such an extent that the brave warriors from the United States for some reason ceased to boast that they could, if desired, capture the Russian Federation in a week, maximum); then an unprecedented weapon was discovered, capable of completely erasing all the major cities of the enemy from the world map in a couple of minutes (yes, by the way, our “Perimeter”, also known as the “Dead Hand” - the automatic response control system, often recalls recently in the West nuclear strike in case of sudden aggression against the Russian Federation); then Eurovision, the Olympics, the World Cup held here are recognized as the best in history (oops!); the economic sanctions carefully imposed by the “Western partners” somehow work poorly ... And in general, just about anything in the world is Russia’s fault (yeah, wild, impoverished, freezing Russia with technologies from the time of Tsar Gorokh, only knowing what to pump and sell oil and gas). At the same time, for some reason, only we (except the Chinese) are able to tell the Americans right in the face that they are louts, and generally the banks have beguiled, and stick our nose where we should not. And in fact, Russia is a member of the UN Security Council, APEC, EAEU, WTO, Council of Europe, BRICS, etc.
1. USA
Here one could simply write “No comment” (well, who in our world and in our time have not heard about the United States?). But still, there is a little information: despite the fact that the “Country of High Elves” has recently somehow perceptibly lost its ostentation and luster, it is still the most powerful country on the planet. Its economy and politics affect even the most remote corners of the world, its military bases are EVERYWHERE (now there are almost 750 of them), the United States has the gigantic military budget (more than 700 billion dollars), they can invade anywhere and bomb anyone (under the timid muttering of timid objections by the "international community"). Hollywood films, TV shows HBO, Netflix and CBS, American fast food, the so-called "universal values", etc. form popular culture all over the world. The USA “rule” NATO, the UN, the WTO and many other international organizations, without the slightest embarrassment of “bending” them for themselves, when necessary. At the moment, this country really rules the world. But for how long? ..