Probably the two I most admire - I don't include my own country - is Britain and Japan. Especially the former.
Britain's obvious influence in the world, from an historical perspective, is pretty impressive. A pragmatic merging of the traditional and the innovative that made democracy durable without it becoming revolutionary,
To be sure, today the UK is not what it was, but a nation whose institutions are clearly democratic and yet includes things like the monarchy and the House of Lords - anchors to tradition and stability - is not to be dismissed lightly. Throw in the historical contribution by men like Burke, Disraeli, and Churchill and Britain has earned my admiration.
As to Japan, that is a bit of an eccentricity on my part. It is not a nation that I would necessarily want to imitate - the cultural aspects are far too alien to a man raised in the West. Yet here again, Japan has managed a pragmatic blend of its' ancient culture with a certain adaptive skill that is impressive. Even more so given that, ironically, that adaptive skill led Japan down a very dark road for a time.
Japan entered World War II in part because it was attempting to compete in the world of the European imperial powers while at the same time retaining its' insular culture. That led, suffice to say, to disaster and yet, when Japan was defeated it did not "throw the baby out with the bathwater," so to speak, but simply recalibrated its' culture and institutions to new circumstances and thus the state that it is today.
By the way, I would throw France onto the list. While I find France's political history to be less impressive, there cannot be any doubt about that country's contributions to art and culture. For that matter, whatever my disagreements with it, there cannot be any doubt about France's historical influence in the political arena and certainly France's ability to recover from the catastrophe of the two world wars deserves admiration.
Having said all that, as a student of politics and history, my tendency is to respect other cultures that have developed organically and democratically. That is no easy thing to pull off in the tumult of history.
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The United States of America and the American culture.
The country that refused to be subservient to any other and fought valiantly against tyranny to win its freedom against the most powerful army on earth and against all odds.
The country that represents the greatest and most unique experiment in individual freedom in the history of mankind.
The country that more people are desperately trying to get into to live than all the other countries of the world combined.
The liberator of more people than any other nation in history. The premiere military might that all free nations of the world depend on to protect them from tyranny and evil.
The largest, strongest and most powerful economy in the world with the world's most coveted currency.
The country that creates more prosperity, gives more charitable contributions and lifts more people out of poverty throughout the world than any other.
The country that discovered more medical breakthroughs and developed more technological inventions that have saved and improved more lives than any other in history.
The country that invented the culture that has been adopted all over the world and is now accepted as the norm.
Ancient Persia. Iran has been ruined after Islamic invasion but Iran was a great civilization. Zoroastrianism is a really interesting religion.
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The US and Canada are very similar to Australia in that we are all Anglo settler countries. So it is easy to find something within my cultural boundaries to admire.
Can appreciate what we derived from the UK very much and I prize our democratic traditions. 1688 was a watershed year as I have said before.
I will be surprised if France is not a top mention by nearly everybody. Italy, Greece too.
Japan will get many references I am sure.
Truth is I don't have the broad sweep to say much about non European countries.
After the above I'd drop back to Early Anatolian Farmers and the various fertile crescent cultures.
I almost forgot the Romans. How could I? It has been almost 2 weeks since I thought about Rome. I have been on holidays is my excuse.
Egyptians and Vikings the reason is simple women's rights. That's it. The rest were all just awful.
And to my understand Egypt women's rights become worse the more modern they become ironically. Mostly due to influences from Greeks and Islam especially Islam. It's honestly sad they made Egyptians leave their old faith.I like countries that have a long history and a rich culture.
United Kingdom (England, Scotland)
France.
Germany.
Italy.
Russia.
China.
Japan.
Iran.Japan. I’ve always had a fascination with the nation and its people. I’ve recently been reading and watching videos about living there. I’m strongly considering giving it a go.
England, France and Italy - in that order. I'm a sucker for architecture going back 2000 years
European countries mainly. France. Spain. England. Greece.
United Kingdom / Great Britain or Australia. I'm biased. 👑
Greece, Egypt, Mexico, China, Japan, India
China. The world has NO FUCKING CLUE the debt humanity owes these people.
The continent of Antarctica, because there is no c
Funny how each country is both rich in culture and awful history.
France, South Africa and Greece are probably my top 3.
Greece and its amazing islands
you should come once and experience orthodox Easter. Amazing few days of pure authentic Greek culture
Paris, France
None. I just learn from history I don’t admire any history. And the Caribbean culture that I come from is the only one I actually admire.
India.
Beautiful culture and rich history.
My own country, Pakistan, and all Muslims countries
italy, greece, france, asia, england
Philippines, USA, South Korea
Switzerland
Canada
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