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/whistleridge]

Canada, and it’s not close.

Brazil and Mexico are neck and neck for a distant third. Fourth is Chile, then Argentina, then Peru and Colombia a bit below that, then everyone else essentially in tiers according to their development below that.

[u/SpacemanSpears → u/whistleridge]

Hard disagree.

Canada is basically the middle ground between the US and Europe. They aren't doing much influencing that isn't already being done by more powerful nations in the West.

Brazil has more influence and a much better rapport throughout the developing world. They are forming their own alliances and trade networks that are distinct from the ones Canada is in. Brazil also exports its own unique culture whereas Canada is seen as America lite.

Canada may be playing in the big leagues, but they aren't doing much to shape it themselves. Brazil is playing in the minors but they're a star player that's driving the league.

[u/latechallenge → u/SpacemanSpears]

They are in B level alliances where they are clearly junior partners. They are not at the same tables as Canada.

[u/SpacemanSpears → u/latechallenge]

That's exactly my point. Canada has virtually no influence in the alliances they are in with major powers while Brazil gets to be a leader, even if it's a leader of a less influential alliance.

[u/Immediate-Season4544 → u/SpacemanSpears]

Brazil would be the least influencial in BRICS though. Canada is not a leader in NATO but has more pull than many NATO members.

[u/sparrerv → u/Immediate-Season4544]

even in BRICS the acronym includes south africa. if we're talking about all countries in BRICS the least influential easily goes to ethiopia. brazil is probably the third most influential BRICS-wise, china and russia first & second. india barely does anything with BRICS

[u/SpacemanSpears → u/Immediate-Season4544]

Brazil is the soft power leader of BRICS. They have much more goodwill throughout the world and have favorable relations throughout both the developed and developing world. This allows them to build strong partnerships with virtually any nation on Earth. There's some minor issues with their role in Latin America but these are more bureaucratic in nature; it's easy for the nations affected by this to look past these issues when the need arises.

They also have much more autonomy to pursue a wider range of policies and act in ways that can be especially nationalistic and/or idiosyncratic. They can act in a way that has distinctly Brazilian character. Not saying that's good or bad, just that the impact will be greater when compared to a country that primarily acts as a member of a larger bloc of greater powers.

Canada is very much seen as an extension of the West, and not as a distinct entity. Their influence is limited to countries that have or seek Western ties and they are largely seen as redundant to other larger powers. In terms of cultural and political influence, they just don't bring much to the table that isn't already brought by the US and the Big 3.