[seifer almasy]

My list:
01. USA
02. China
03. India (they're quickly rising)
04. Russia
05. UK
06. Israel (aka America Jr.)
07. France
08. Germany
09. Japan
10. Poland/Norway/Australia/Canada

[El Cid]

China is onwards to capitalism. Sadly, so is Cuba.

[Ixa]

What do you consider to be the ten most powerful countries today? Here are my thoughts:

1 USA
2 China
3 Britain
4 France
5 Russia
6 Germany
7 India
8 Japan
9 Australia
10 Israel

When I showed Mum she asked why Australia is on there. I replied, they have friends in high places, and have a surprising amount of political clout.

That is absurd. Why is Germany there? Canada is more powerful than Australia, for Christ's sake. North Korea and Iraq are several times more powerful than most of the countries you listed. Japan is weak, too. India? France?

[CasX]

Y'Know power isn't all military. Comprehendi?

[Adrien]

Hep, don't say my country is weak!

Seriously, military power doesn't do everything: there's diplomacy, cultural influence, economy, ...

[Seamus Warren]

Australia would be closer to the bottom ten I reckon.

Israel would be in the top four in terms of firepower I think. They are a modern day Sparta.

Indonesia would have one of the biggest armies and so would North Korea.

The US War Machine would probably have more firepower that the rest of the world put together.

France is yesterday's power and is only a permanent member of the Security council out of courtesy.

Germany is using foreign policy as therapy and for mine is pretty irrelevant.


=== === === === === ===

So I suppose Britain is the dominant European power.

China, North Korea, Indonesia and Japan (maybe) are the significant forces in Asia.

Australia is the significant force in Oceania which means we are more powerful than the "Coconuts" in Figi, Samoa, New Zealand and so on.

Russia is the dominant power in Eastern Europe I would think but still second-rate when compared to Britain. I mean, the Russian Navy has gone down the tubes hasn't it? They can't afford to maintain it.

Israel is the dominant Middle Eastern power.

America is the dominant world power and I think China is over-rated. The Yanks would have the technological advantage.

Disclaimer: These are just my assumptions and opinions based on little research. Just a layman's view.

[Seamus Warren]

That is absurd. Why is Germany there? Canada is more powerful than Australia, for Christ's sake. North Korea and Iraq are several times more powerful than most of the countries you listed. Japan is weak, too. India? France?

Here are some world rankings of military expenditure:
http://www.aneki.com/military.html

I don't know how accurate this site is but it claims to have sourced the CIA Factbook.

[Adrien]

only a permanent member of the Security council out of courtesy.

Yes, that's a reality we have to face.

We can't support the comparison with other members, but we do our best to have an important advice.

[Adrien]

Here are some world rankings of military expenditure:
http://www.aneki.com/military.html

I don't know how accurate this site is though.

France is on the third step? I'll make some searches about that, it seems a bit high. Well, this budget isn't very discussed in public so it is possible.

[Krasniy Yastreb]

That the UK is the world's 4th highest military spender I don't believe for a second...

Then again, I have heard that as much as 40% of the UK defence budget goes to MI5, MI6 and the SAS.

[Seamus Warren]

The arms trade is the biggest business in the world and is followed by the drugs trade as the second biggest business in the world - so I'm told.

[CasX]

What about oil?

Brazil is another country probably top 10.

[Evan Roberts]

Top ten countries - Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (economic strength)
http://www.quia.com/rd/7615.html

1 United States
2 China
3 Japan
4 India
5 Germany
6 France
7 United Kingdom
8 Italy
9 Brazil
10 Russia

India is the biggest suprise to me. Russia hardly a superpower thesedays.

[Seamus Warren]

Heaps of IT jobs are going to India.

[TUC]

Hm...the germans have some intrest in being 5th in the world....odd...

[Proctor]

Sovietski - If you have nukes you win over someone without them and you lose to someone with them. The person with the most nukes doesn't win, because you just get annihalated a little less than them in a nuclear war. You still get annihalated.

Man on the Moon - I agree with you on China. A lot of people say they are crap, despite their having the biggest army in the world, and lot of people say they would beat the US, despite their lack of modern military equipment. So I follow the line of 'watch this space'. Do you know just how Britain's navy compares with that of the US? I assume that Britain would come a close second, they have always been a naval power.

Seifer Almasy - Your list is very similar to mine, so there is nothing really to say. But I would appreciate it if more people compiled their own lists. And I agree on India; they can join the 'watch this space' section with China. Are Poland and Norway that strong? They don't seem to get much attention, so I assumed they weren't.

Supernius - Would you mind giving a more defined argument, what you said had no support at all. Germany is there because they are the most industrialised nation in Europe and hold great diplomatic power (that was mostly what I based it on remember). Canada is of similar power to Australia, but people tend to listen to Australia and largely ignore Canada, so they rank higher. North Korea has nukes so are powerful, but everyone ignores them. Iraq would get their asses kicked by Australia. Japan is not so much a military power, but they are so strong econmically that everyone looks up to them. India are in the world focus at the moment, and are rising so fast its not funny. France are the strongest continental European power. That can't be denied.

Seamus Warren - Israel are indeed kick ass militarily. But they get such bad publicity over the Palestine problem that they are not treated with the respect they deserve. Both Indonesia and North Korea do have big fat armies, but as I said no one listens to North Korea, and Australia could easily bomb Indonesia out of existance if they wanted. Indonesia know this, so are willing to take the back seat. Germany is indeed using foreign policy to preserve its reputation, but is that so wrong? It doesn't subtract from their prestige at all does it? Malaysia would probably come before Indonesia in Asia. Russia are pretty much screwed at the moment, but if they got in a war...All of a sudden their economy would recover and their old rusting armed forces would be shiny and new again. I think I've seen that list before. It seems a little...weird.

[KurtFF8]

What do you consider to be the ten most powerful countries today? Here are my thoughts:

1 USA
2 China
3 Britain
4 France
5 Russia
6 Germany
7 India
8 Japan
9 Australia
10 Israel

When I showed Mum she asked why Australia is on there. I replied, they have friends in high places, and have a surprising amount of political clout.

france above another country? HAH! lol j/k

but the UK (militaraly) should be like right behind the US,because they are like the worlds 2nd best military.

[Man On The Moon]

the fighting philosophy of britain is by definition different to that of china, with its small population, britain posseses small forces capable of inflicting stinging and precise attacks, whereas china has a lumbering obsolete army that hits its enemies like a hammer, which explains why britain is more advanced than china currently.

uk- small population, small armed forces, advanced technology, rivaling best navy in the world today.

China- huge population, massive armed forces, obsolete equipment, lack of stealth weapons.

really it all evens out.

America have the perfect mix of the wo really, advanced technology and a large armed force.

[Vassili Zaitsev]

Four words: French Army? Whats that? :lol France shouldn't even be on that list!

The Chinese Navy? Hell the Russian Navy could kick its ass. :lol Many of the world's super powers aren't so super anymore... See, the U$ has a monopoly on the world right now, and we're seeing it. As long as you have a big gun, you can do whatever the hell you want, and no one can stop you. Think about it, what country is strong enough to stop America? Russia used to be, but not anymore.

[Adrien]

Hey we have an army!

Euh.. i mean i guess we have, as my parents work in it.

In fact we also have a badly designed and not working aircraft carrier lol.