What Country (Besides the One You Live In) Do You Respect the Most?

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Most people have a healthy amount of patriotism and like for their native country. Chances are, if you asked around the world what country someone would like to live in, if it's a first world nation, chances are they would pick the one they are currently living in.

Having admitted that, what nation of the world (discounting your native country) do you have the most respect for? This can be based on whatever criteria you want - freedom, standard of living, scientific acheivements, military might, or just their place in history. It doesn't even have to be society that still exists today. If you want to make an arguement for the ancient Egyptians, go for it.

I think this can be an interesting topic as a means of complimenting another country, and also because it is interesting to see how people from other countries view people of your country.

While it pains me to admit this (and I can see Barmy gloating already), for me the answer would be the UK. I base this on their past and present acheivements, many of which are military in nature, but not exclusively so.

If I had to pick two words to describe the British spirit, it would be toughness and ingenuity. Let's take toughness first. Looking at thier military history, the British islands haven't been successfully invaded since 1066, when the Normans defeated the Saxons. Since then, the British track record is near-spotless even when up against fierce odds (as many times they were). Whether you're talking about the One Hundred Years War where their military was greatly out-numbered by the French, or facing constant Nazi air strikes during WWII, the Brits always seem to come out OK. (I also feel the need to point out that probably the greatest wartime speech in modern history was by Winston Churchill at the House of Commons regarding the defeat at Dunkirk in 1940: "We shall never surrender!") About the only war that I can think of that turned out poorly for Britain was the American Revolutionary War, but that doesn't really count, because it basically was a civil war - it was British people fighting other British people.

And that doesn't even scatch upon the military might needed to build one of the largest empires the world has ever seen. While the British empire doesn't exist today, they have left an indelible mark on the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Even though many people living in those countries today would not identify themselves as British, the reason that English is the dominant language is because of the British, and the foundations of all of those countries were built on the backs of people who were of British descent. (To be fair, Canada got an assist from France too.)

Now for the ingenuity. This one is a little hard to explain, but I can best sum it up by saying that Brits are rarely the best at anything, but seem to be very good at just about everything (and yes, that IS a compliment). They certainly aren't home to all of history's greatest scientific minds, but they have a knack for taking an existing idea and building on/perfecting it.

I suppose some examples are in order. The British weren't the first people to develop the bow and arrow and use it in warfare. That had been around for thousands of years. The British were the ones who figured out how to improve upon an age-old design and create the longbow. The British weren't the first to build large ocean-worthy vessels to explore the oceans of the world and colonize new continents. Instead, they took the existing galleon design and made a faster, more maneuverable ship that maintained good cargo size and ship armaments, and basically beat the Spanish at their own game. More recently, the democratization of Britain actually came a bit after that in the U.S. and France, but I would argue that today the British are more free and democratic than either France or the U.S. In other words, they weren't first, but they got it right.

I could go on, but this is already dreadfully long. For me, outside of my home country, I have the most respect for the UK.

 

My answer is Cuba. And it is followed by some other South America countries. I think you can guess the reason of that.

If I look back to the past, I can say Mayans, Aztecs, Ancient Egypt, Hittites etc. I think this list will be expanded when I see others people's responses; because I finished my physics midterm 40 minutes ago, so I can't think deeply.

 

Germany. For good beer, great cars, and surprisingly hot women.

 

I cannot guess why you would pick modern day Cuba. Please explain.

 

Norway. Heritage and all, dare I say most of the family still lives there as well. The fact that they arguably have the most effective economic model in the world only adds to that respect.

 

Ah, you know me Aldeth, I hate to disappoint!

Well, in truth, the WHOLE of the UK has never been totally occupied by a foreign force. We've been, arguably, successfully invaded a time or two, but there has always been pockets of Britain that remained British. Examples, the Romans never took Scotland, the Vikings never subdued England and were eventually beaten by Alfred the Great etc. In truth, the only reason the Normans had a measure of success is because the Saxons were invaded by 2 countries at exactly the same time. King Harold had to muster an army to defeat the invading Harald Haldrade to the North, fight them at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, then force march his remaining force quickly South to take on the Norman invasion under William the Conqueror. He very nearly bloody won, too, despite it. We have always defended our island ferociously.

The American war of independence wasn't really that much of a blow to the might of the British empire in truth. We were still having poor relations with France at the time and considered them our main rivals. Our holdings in Europe and India were under threat and needed solidifying. If we could have quickly gotten reinforcements to America, I'm sure we would have but it wasn't really feasible, so the armies there were pretty much on their own, as it were. Then we cut our losses and pulled out. I wonder if we decided to gather our full force and revisit America what might have happened...

THE biggest empire the world has seen, come on get it right Al me pal!

Please do, I'm enjoying this!

 

Actually, Ghengis Khan had the biggest empire in terms of land controlled.

Me, I think I'd say Germany, mostly for the cars and beer.

 

Well, the only reason I said one of the biggest was a couple of years ago, I saw a program on the history channel which stated that in terms of total land mass, the largest empire ever was the Mongol Empire, since it took up a good chunk of Asia, the middle east, and even parts of Europe. Now, if you want to argue which empire was more powerful, I'd go with the British, because in many ways the only thing the Mongols did better than the conquered people was fight wars. They didn't exactly have a knack for long-term governance.

EDIT: NOG beat me to it!

 

Well, are you going to go on land mass owned or population controlled? The 2nd seems the most prudent to me, when comparing empires. By around 1915 the British Empire had control of over 1/4 of the worlds population. No-one else has got close to that really.

 

Actual Ghengis brought his people from nomadic tribsmen with no written language or permanent structures to one who's intelectuals rivaled the Chinese of the time (mostly by learning from the Chinese, but...). If Ghengis had had a clearer line of succession, they may well have been remembered as one of the greatest empires of history.

 

I would choose New Zealand. Something new and different and I have wanted to wander all over looking for the places I have seen on TV.

Hey UKers, don't forget war of 1812. We won that one too even though you did get to set the White House on fire!

 

Exactly they were a barbaric nomadic people who pillaged, burned and lived off the land. They didn't bring progress, just destruction.

They also had a nice big starting base to go from. Britain is a tiny little island, and controlled a quarter of the world, bringing civilization and culture with it.

Anyroad, for mine I'd probably have to say Australia. For a country that started out as a collection of murderers, rapists and thieves, they've sure come along! They've got a relatively small population, but anything they turn their mind to they usually rule at. They're a very arrogant people but fiercely competitive. I don't know anybody who has a similar population size who can compare to them for sporting brilliance.

 

Well it would have probably ended up in a civil war anyway. It's unlikely that any of his sons would have been accepted as his sole successor.

In any case I'll have to echo many others and vote for Germany. The beer is excellent and they are the engine of the EU economy. Plus they were the first to accept our independence.

 

Communism

 

You'll outgrow that.

 

@Argohir - That was what my initial thought was, but why Cuba? Do you know what life is like in modern day Cuba? Cuba's current economy is in crisis mode, and has been largely since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1989. If you were going to take an example of a communist country that's going strong, why pick Cuba? China would be the most obvious pick, but even Vietnam or North Korea would have been better options. I'm not coming down on you for picking a Communist country - I'm just very confused by the specific Communist country you've selected.

 

A country ruled by a prick probably no more innocent than Milosovic or Saddam. Great pick for respect, dude!

 

Finland. It's like Switzerland, except actually willing to fight (and do so intelligently). Not to mention it's where Ara and Morgy are from.

 

Excellent choise, Felinoid!

 

Maybe I growed enough and it is the result.

@Aldeth the Foppish Idiot: Yes, they are in crisis but it isn't because of them. It is because of the countries which hates communism. And I love their recent past. I don't see the others you say as communist. I also like Venezuela, Bolivya and some other S. American socialist countries.

It is a far more better pick than any imperialist country. And I can count a lot of names of leaders which are more guilty than him.

I think AoDA and this topic isn't for discussing these. AoLS is for that.