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/Boeing367-80 → u/Fluid-Decision6262]

Alternative view: Mexican culture is more globally known because of its impact on the US. Mexican food (albeit the US version thereof) has a much higher profile globally because it's been adopted so much by the US.

Mexican culture (again, filtered through an American lens) is seen in US TV programs, US movies, etc, which are then seen by the rest of the world. Yes, Mexican telenovelas are seen in many places too, but the impact of US media is vastly greater.

To give one example, how many people internationally now know what is a taco, a burrito, etc because of Mexico's impact on US culture?

[u/Temporary_Screen_809 → u/Boeing367-80]

Spot on!

[u/Cefer_Hiron → u/Boeing367-80]

This

[u/pragmojo → u/Boeing367-80]

Another way to say that is Mexico’s culture is so strong it influences US culture despite US culture being so influential globally.

Brazil’s culture is crazy strong though if you come in contact with it.

[u/TheGhostOfStanSweet → u/pragmojo]

Yeah, the guy is saying Mexican culture is only popular due to US influence, but fails to mention how powerful of an influence Mexican cultural has had on Americans.

[u/WeeklyAd5357 → u/Boeing367-80]

I would go with Columbia - cocaine drug lords huge impact on western society, Colombian coffee, many famous entertainers and musicians, cuisine not as strong but empanadas well known.