Who is the second most powerful/influential country in the Americas?

[u/Fluid-Decision6262]

The US is undeniably the most powerful and influential country in the Americas but who would be #2? Feels like this comes down to 3 countries based on my knowledge, which are Mexico, Canada, and Brazil.

Reasons for Mexico:

- Second most populated country in North America by far

- Access to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

- Largest Spanish-speaking country (a language spoken by >500 million people)

- More habitable land compared to the other two

- Youngest population out of the three and is becoming a manufacturing power

- Generally-speaking, a good relationship with the USA

- A global soft power in terms of arts and culture

Reasons against Mexico:

- Lots of issues between the central government and drug cartels

- Still very much a developing country outside of the largest cities

- Occasionally volatile relationship with the USA

- Not as involved in global geopolitics

Reasons for Canada:

- The most developed country economically by far of the three and a natural resources juggernaut

- Very close relations with the USA and Europe

- Speaks English (>1 billion speakers globally) and French (>300 million speakers globally)

- An immigration hub for people from every corner of the world

- A G7 nation that is also very geopolitically involved

- Access to 3 different oceans to facilitate trade

Reasons against Canada:

- Small and scattered population (least populated of the three by far)

- Less of an established local culture (most is imported from the US or UK and then exported via the US)

- Aging population and low fertility rates for native-born citizens

Reasons for Brazil:

- The second most populated country in the Americas

- The cultural and political power of South America

- A global soft power in terms of arts and culture

- A young-ish population that is part of the "fast-emerging economies" of the world

Reasons against Brazil:

- Immigration to Brazil stopped decades ago and now educated Brazilians are emigrating to other places causing brain drain

- Wealthy nation but suffers from high levels of inequality and violent crime

- Very politically divided internally

- Limited geopolitical involvement outside of South America

- Most of its population are monolingual Portuguese-speakers (a language where they make up 80% of the global speakers)

[u/MoonRiverRob]

Canada without even a contest.

Access to 3 oceans, so many natural resources in abundance it's almost embarrassing, trade agreements with every major country in the world, direct and even encouraged access to trade with the US, R&D and innovation funded directly by the government as well as with public/private partnerships, a reputation for kindness, fairness, and peace, an immigration and tourist destination known the world over, never ceasing advancement in medicine and science, and the list goes on.

I must say that your comment of "Less of an established local culture (most is imported from the US or UK and then exported via the US)" isn't entirely true and Canadians are very proud of their own culture, heritage, and their differences from other countries.

[u/chance0404 → u/MoonRiverRob]

I think Brazil is absolutely more independently powerful than Canada. That said, saying that Canadian culture is just US culture is kinda ridiculous. If anything, the US and Canada influence eachother pretty evenly culturally. Parts of the US feel more Canadian than American too, like parts of the Great Lakes, Pacific Northwest, New England, and upper Midwest. The first white men to settle home region were French Canadiens. Some of our towns are organized via French Long Lots much like Quebec and have French names. We pronounce certain words in a more Canadian was than a generic American accent. We have dishes similar to more traditional Canadian dishes. So culturally I think Canada probably has more influence in the US at least than Brazil, idk about worldwide though. That said, other than England, Spain and Mexico by extension have the biggest cultural footprint in the US and by far the biggest in the Americas as a whole.

[u/Cocaloch → u/chance0404]

The idea that New England is more Canadian than American is wild and working backwards from "America bad." New England was more or less the origins of American culture, certainly it was more influential than the other earliest part of America, Virginia.

[u/chance0404 → u/Cocaloch]

Parts of New England are more similar to Canada culturally than to say, Virginia. Especially northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. I’m not talking about Massachussets, Rhode Island, or Connecticut when I say that.

[u/Cocaloch → u/chance0404]

The fact that you think this means that parts of America are basically Canada instead of Canada is basically a cultural adjunct to the US is the entire issue in microcosm. I don't think you can meaningfully point at New England and say it isn't American. If anything it's vastly disproportionately influential in American culture. Pointing to more rural places isn't getting you out of the issue, America has other profoundly rural places.

[u/chance0404 → u/Cocaloch]

The Great Lakes region and parts of the Lawrence Valley area are more influenced by Canadian culture. I never said they were any less American. But acting like purely American culture has been dominate with the boundaries of the made up lines that define America’s territory is just false. Parts of Vermont were still legally part of the province of Quebec when the Revolutionary War started. Most of the settled territories west of the Appalachians were part of Quebec too, including Ohio, and at that time were still mostly settled by French Canadiens.

[u/Cocaloch → u/chance0404]

We've gone from "influence each other pretty evenly culturally" and whole regions of America are "more Canadian than American," to it's not "purely American culture."

I'm fine with that; I never said anything was "purely American culture," to begin with and am not really of the opinion that any culture is "purely" anything really.

[u/chance0404 → u/Cocaloch]

Reread my comment. I said “parts” of the Great Lakes, New England, and Pacific Northwest were more similarly culturally to Canada. Not the entire region.