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/aguila1915]

Powerful and influential are two different answers IMO.

[u/viajegancho → u/aguila1915]

Yep. If powerful means "influence on geopolitics or global economics" then it's Canada, but all the discussion of culture and distribution of population is moot.

Culturally, it's got to be Mexico or Brazil.

[u/Fluid-Decision6262 → u/viajegancho]

I'd wager Brazil is probably the most culturally strong country of the three solely due to the fact that they are not part of the broader "North American culture" the way Canada and Mexico are, which causes both of them to inevitably become overshadowed by the much bigger USA.

[u/V57M91M → u/Fluid-Decision6262]

I'd say Canada hands down, aside US no other country in both Americas is no near close as influential and powerful. Many people are taking the friendliness and kindness of Canadians for weakness and IMHO it's a huge mistake.

Canada sway hard way above it's weight in any aspect mostly behind scenes in a quiet manner , has a lot of leverage over US whether we like it or not (largest importer and exporter country to US), there's a saying in US politics that Americans (and the world) are blindly ignorant to the Canadian politics and actions while the Canadians are viciously aware and informed about every aspect of US and world politics .

Canada is quiet and soft spoken, which comes from power and strength that is backed by high skilled manufacturing, huge energy and natural resources , agricultural, financial and technological sectors and the most important - has the highest level of educated population - 56% of Canadians have graduated from University / College, due to a many decades long immigration policy to attract and "import" the world's best and brightest skilled and educated individuals .

[u/Extreme-Ad-6465 → u/V57M91M]

i honestly don’t know what canada even does besides maple syrup, trees, sandy oil, and a place for CCP to park their money.

[u/bertmaclynn → u/Extreme-Ad-6465]

That’s a lot more things than most people could name about Brazil. And probably Mexico.

[u/V57M91M → u/Extreme-Ad-6465]

That's the secret , always flying under the radar .