- What factors determine that a country is a global potential?
- Military might
- Economy
- Quality of life
- Cultural influence
- Citizenship
- References
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The factors that determine that a country is a world power tend to be objective, mainly its military power, economic development and the impact of its economy with respect to the rest of the globe.
Also their internal economic capacities, quality of life, cultural influence and even migration dynamics are factors to consider.
Although the latter do not radically affect the impact of the powers in the world, it does say a lot about their internal policies and could be considered role models.
What factors determine that a country is a global potential?
Military might
The military capacity of a country is a determining factor in the dynamics between it and the rest of the countries, whether they are its direct neighbors or on the other side of the world.
The United States is considered the world's greatest power in large part because its annual investment in military spending is around 600 billion dollars, followed by Russia, which invests about 100 billion dollars per year.
After these are China, the United Kingdom and Germany
Economy
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a nation is the total annual value of goods and services of a country in a year.
This list is headed by the United States with a GDP of 18,569,100 million dollars according to the International Monetary Fund, followed by China, Japan and Germany, which together barely exceed the sum made only by the United States.
Quality of life
Directly related to the economy, the quality of life talks about how the citizens of a country live in their day to day life.
A large domestic product does not necessarily mean that citizens live better or spend more, and in this category Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Australia and Norway top the list.
Paradoxically, the United States is not among the top 10 countries with the highest quality of life.
Cultural influence
The ability that the history, music and gastronomy of a country influence the rest is also considered and in this case Italy is the largest most influential country in the world.
Although pizza and pasta could have something to do with it (they are consumed all over the world), or perhaps the paintings of Da Vinci and Michelangelo, it is more the direct relationship with the Roman Empire and the development of languages that makes Italy in the most culturally influential country.
Italy is followed by France, the United States, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Citizenship
Countries that care about human rights, gender equality, and freedom of belief are also powers even if they do not have broad military or economic dominance.
Norway leads in this category, thanks to its inclusive policies and its search for social equality through the distribution of wealth, followed by Sweden, Switzerland, Canada and Finland.
Norway in particular spends 1% of its annual income on aid for international development and its prisons are classified as the most humane in the world.
Two of its Nordic neighbors (Sweden and Finland) have similar policies.
References
- Merriam-Webster - Great Power. Taken from merriam-webster.com
- US News - Best Countries: Methodology. Taken from usnews.com
- US News - Power Rankings. Taken from usnews.com
- World Atlas - The Richest Countries In The World. Taken from worldatlas.com
- Business Insider - The 11 Most Powerful Militaries In The World. Taken from businessinsider.com
- Wikipedia - Great Power. Taken from en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia - List of countries by GDP. Taken from en.wikipedia.org