Which country is powerful

 Defining the world’s most powerful countries is not always clear-cut and can be subjective. The most powerful nations are the ones that shape global economic patterns, preoccupy policymakers, and tend to have strong defense and military. Foreign policies of powerful countries are closely tracked and consistently dominate news headlines around the world. U.S. News and World Report, in partnership with BAV Group and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has devised a way to rank the world’s most powerful countries in its annual Best Countries rankings. The report surveyed over 20,000 people from four regions across the globe. Respondents were asked to associate 80 countries with five attributes: military alliances, international alliances, political influence, economic influence, and leadership. The top 10 most powerful nations, according to the 2021 Best Countries report, are: the United State of Americs , China, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. According to the 2020 survey (released in 2021), the United States is the world’s most powerful country. The United States has the world's largest economy with a GDP of $20.93 trillion in 2020 and the most massive military budget of $778 billion in 2020. The U.S. defense spending is higher than the next ten largest defense spenders (China, India, Russia, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, and Italy) combined. China and Russia are the second and third most powerful countries, known for their military spending and vast physical expanse. China also has a large economy, with a GDP of $14.3 trillion. Next on the list are Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, and France, all of whic have large economies and distribute high amounts of international aid. Although a few have switched places, nine of the top ten countries are returners from the previous year's list. The lone new entry is the United Arab Emirates, which arrives at #10 and nudges Israel down to #11. Honorable mentions for the world's most powerful countries are Canada, India, and Turkey.The BAV Group, a unit of global marketing company VMLY&R, in partnership with The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania have released the world’s best countries rankings in 2022.  The results of the best countries rankings are based on a study that surveyed over 17,000 people from four different regions. The survey assessed their perceptions of 78 countries using 76 different metrics. The 2022 Best Countries ranking includes power as a sub-ranking, which has 8 percent weight from the overall score. The power sub-ranking, derived from weighted average scores, has five specific attributes that pertain to a country’s power. These factors are the country’s leader, economic influence, political influence, strength in international alliances, and military power.China and Russia have shuffled positions in the 2022 most powerful countries’ sub-rankings. China now occupies second place while Russia falls to third place in terms of military spending.Germany and the United Kingdom follow the top three countries, keeping the fourth and fifth spots respectively. These two countries have large economies and donate a tremendous amount of international aid. Meanwhile, Japan moves up to no. 6, overtaking France, which now sits at no. 7 this year.   South Korea and Saudi Arabia each ranked one spot higher in 2022, occupying the eighth place and ninth place respectively.  South Korea and Saudi Arabia each moved up one position this year, to No. 8 and No. 9 respectively. From the 11^th spot, The United Arab Emirates moved back up to No. 10 to round out the 2022 most powerful countries in the world. Israel land fell three spots lower, from No. 8 to No. 11 this year.The other four counties in honorable mentions include Canada, India, Turkey, and Italy, which sit at the 12^th, 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th places respectively.