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“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation” (Kennedy). When looking at the greatest countries on earth, it is hard to leave The United States off the top of the list. The amount of greatness that this country holds is astonishing when compared to any other country in the world. The United States has made ripples throughout the globe since the creation of the constitution, and continues to impact the world as a whole to this day.
When America is compared to other major countries throughout the world, it can be seen as the greatest country on Earth due to its impact on the globe and America’s ability to change things globally. So is America the greatest country in the world?
Before answering why the United States is the greatest country on the planet, the meaning of greatness must first be evaluated.
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The dictionary defines greatness as “the quality of being great, distinguished, or eminent”. This definition really doesn’t give enough of a meaning to definitively evaluate why the United States is the greatest country on earth. When looking at Kennedy’s quote above, a better definition of what greatness truly is, emerges. Greatness is the ability to affect change. When measuring greatness, it can be seen in this day and age by the amount of change a country has made in the world and where the world is today because of this country.
When evaluated in this light, it becomes a much simpler task to show why The United States really is the greatest country on earth.
America as a country is very unique compared to other contries. The United States is currently the oldest country to be founded as a democracy that still exists, as well as the first country to be founded as a democracy; a fact supported by Woolf in Democracy where he says “The USA was the world’s first modern democracy...” (Woolf, 16). This fact alone sets The United States apart from almost every other country around the world. When the United States was first founded, it was founded on the revolutionary ideas that came out of the enlightenment. The philosophies of great thinkers like John Locke and our very own Thomas Jefferson helped to shape the early ideologies of America and build our constitution. At the time of the United States first starting, democracy was a revolutionary idea, one that had not been fully adopted anywhere else due to heavy opposition from more traditional forms of government, such as monarchies. America has been a forerunner in the world from its very creation, and ever since then has continued to set the bar for greatness throughout the world.
With the United States adopting democracy, many other countries soon followed suit. The English parliament took more and more influence from the crown, France soon had its own revolution, and set up its own version of democracy. In today’s day and age, nearly every first world country has some sort of democracy in place, and many new developing governments around the world, look at the United States to model their own emerging government after. Looking at this in light of what greatness is, the United States has impacted a large amount of change throughout the world as well as set new trends that will be followed into the indefinite future. Through democracy and the freedoms that came along with it, the United States has set a new standard for giving the people a voice in politics and has set a trend that will continues to expand across the world today.
In addition to being a role model for democracy, The United States also plays a big role in global politics. The United States is recognized as one of the G8 countries, meaning we are one of the eight countries that have significant global economic ties and influence in international economics. The United States has been described as the engine behind global economics, and there is good reason for that. First off, the United States boasts of one of the highest GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita in the world (Dees, Saint-Guilhem, 33). We do trade with a vast number of countries, and those who we don’t directly trade with, trade with our allies. “Even for countries that do not trade so much with the U.S., they are influenced by its dominance through other partners’ trade” (Dees, Saint-Guilhem, 25). The reaches of the United States economy can be felt from our direct trade partners to even the most distant of them. One good example of how dependent the world’s economy is on the United States, is to look what happened when our economy took a turn for the worst in 2008-2009. Known now as The Great Recession, the mere downturn of our housing market sent ripples throughout the world. In comparison, to our own crash, recently China’s markets as well as many European markets have been quickly falling or even collapsing in the case of Greece. These two major global economic events have barely touched The United States’ economic machine, especially when compared to how much our recession affected their economies.
Another factor that is very unique about the United States’ economy, is that we were one of the first countries to really embrace capitalism, an ideology that is now pursued worldwide. “Giving the value of 100 to the index of industrial production in 1913, the level of industrial production in 1920 was 141 in the United States, 100 in Britain, 62 in France…” (Beaud, 171). This quote shows the dominance of capitalism from such an early time period, and was something that started to define America as a country. Capitalism can most easily be seen in the United States though the idea of “the American Dream”, an idea that started to be said in the early 1900’s. “The American Dream” was coined due to the ability for anyone to immigrate to this great nation, and if they work hard, they could have a good life here in America. This idea spread through the world like wildfire, causing many people to come to The United States for a better life. People immigrate to America today to pursue a better life for themselves, and with hard work many immigrants achieve this goal. This is just another ideology that America helped to perpetuate in the world, and similar to democracy, many countries around the world have followed suit and become better because of it. This is yet another way that the United States has been a leader in this world.
In addition to that, the United States currently holds nearly 35% of the world’s GDP, this is to say that nearly one third of the global wealth is found in the U.S. If what makes something great is its ability to influence and change the world, then we as a country have a good amount of pull globally from our economic power alone. An embargo against a struggling country or even a well-developed one could easily mean a huge hit to their economy, if not even more severe consequences. On the other hand, open trade with a country means a new era of wealth for that country, and the better the economic security in a country, the more advancement and therefore change happens as a result. Another major factor of change comes from the sheer amount of philanthropists that The United States has to offer. Great men like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates and many more, offer tremendous amount of help and aid to struggling countries. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has done some spectacular things with the wealth Bill Gates has amassed in America, and are doing the best to change the future of our planet for the better. These are just a few ways that our economic prosperity have made positive impacts on the world, furthering the claim that The United States is the greatest country on earth and even some of the people in this country represent us in a respectable way.
In addition to being a member of the G8 committee, the United States is currently one of only 5 other countries that hold a permanent spot on the United Nations security council. “The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental, international organization consisting of all 193 states in the world, whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achievement of world peace” (Boundless, 1). Established in 1945 with a large amount of help from the United States, The UN has had a key role in keeping the world a stable place, and more specifically the United States has had a leadership role in making sure the UN is operating globally at the best of its ability. As a member of the security council, the U.S plays a major role to maintain and mediate global relations and help maintain international peace. However, we are set apart from other members in this elite community mainly due to the fact that the UN uses The United States army as the primary source of UN deployed troops. If there is an issue in the world that needs military attention, the United States’ military will almost always put boots on the ground on behalf of the UN and for the sake of peace in the world.
The United States military is undoubtedly the greatest in the world. America spends more money on its military than the next 7 countries combined. In addition to this The United States has military bases throughout the world, and have troops stationed in almost every country. We have we have made an impact in nearly every major military conflict since WWII, and are undoubtable the greatest military power the world has ever seen. Due to our expansive and dominating military power, The United States has the greatest amount of sway when it comes to military matters, and as such we have a great deal of leverage in the world from military power alone. Throughout history, countries that have the best militaries tend have also been the greatest countries at the time, which is also proven to be true in today’s day and age. The United States Military has made a great deal of changes happen globally; We were the saving grace for the Allies in WWII, and were the main reason the war with Japan ended helping to end the greatest war the world has ever seen. We are the reason many nations are still standing today, which in turn shows once again that amount of change that The United States has made on the world, furthering the proof that It is the greatest country on earth.
Yet another area where The United States is seen as a leader is our Global Presence rating. Global Presence is a measure of how much a country shows up around the world. It focuses on things such as military deployment, economic presence, and even media coverage seen globally. “...The United States, which still ranks first” (Olivie, Gracia, Garcia-Calvo, 23). The United States’ score is 1099.6, which is almost three times our closest competitor: Great Britain (Olivie, Gracia, Garcia-Calvo, 26). Through this score alone, it can be seen that The United States is known by almost every corner of the earth. Very few people would be oblivious to what America is, and that is simply due to the sheer amount of presence that we have in the world. The United States has such a great deal of influence in the world that no matter where you are, there is a chance that this great country has had an impact on your life, one way or another. All of this just gives great reasons as to why America can easily be seen as one of the greatest countries to have ever been on the face of the earth.
In addition to this, our global presence rating really puts it into perspective of how much influence we have had over the world, and how much we currently do have over the world. It shows how much more our economics, our military and even our media is seen throughout the world. Other countries are nowhere near us in these terms, and global presence really highlights that. We have made contributions to the world that go far beyond just our ideologies, and that is seen here too. We live in a very resource rich country, and because of that we have an economy that can flourish. Our flourishing economy, that allows us to spend the amount we do on making sure we are the forerunners with military tech, which then trickles down into consumer technology. All these thing compounding on top of each other make a clear distinction to why we are where we are. No country on earth has as good of a balance that the United States has, and it can be clearly seen here.
All in all, the list that makes The United States the greatest country in the world could go on, but the factors listed above show that America has the highest level of influence and therefore change in the world today. American ideologies have swept the globe, our military stands supreme, and our economic might is unparalleled on a global scale. America has made its mark on the world for the better and has continued to lead the way in terms of advancement. In the words of Harry S Truman, “America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” The American spirit has never been broken, and that is just another reason The United States is to be considered the greatest country on earth.
Works Cited
Is America The Greatest Country In The World. (2024, Feb 04). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/is-america-the-greatest-country-in-the-world-2-essay
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