Which country is the "No. 2" in the Anglophone world?

[JasonDebenah89]

Which country do you consider to be the number 2 after the US in the English-speaking world?

[TPIG]

United Kingdom, our closest English-speaking ally, without a doubt.

[Alabama_Indy10]

United Kingdom, our closest English-speaking ally, without a doubt.

[Lechasseur]

United Kingdom, our closest English-speaking ally, without a doubt.

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

Australia. The UK is a basket case, Canada is a dysfunctional late-stage empire, and NZ and Ireland are too small to exert real global influence.

[OSR stands with Israel]

United Kingdom, our closest English-speaking ally, without a doubt.

[TDAS04]

Well, objectively the UK is the second most powerful (nothing to do with what country is "best", however).

Voted Ireland as a joke.

[bagelman]

Australia. The UK is a basket case, Canada is a dysfunctional late-stage empire, and NZ and Ireland are too small to exert real global influence.

Australia could replace the UK quite soon, but the UK still even after all this time and all it's internal chaos still have more remnant overall power.

[YE]

Canada.

[White Trash]

United Kingdom, our closest English-speaking ally, without a doubt.

No other country comes close.

[Sirius_]

The UK, with the most military power out of the bunch, the highest GDP of the bunch, and the only one with a permanent UNSC seat.

[brucejoel99]

United Kingdom, our closest English-speaking ally, without a doubt.

[Cokeland Saxton]

United Kingdom, our closest English-speaking ally, without a doubt.

[Lechasseur]

The UK, with the most military power out of the bunch, the highest GDP of the bunch, and the only one with a permanent UNSC seat.

This

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The interesting question is who is No. 3. There are good arguments to be made for both Australia and Canada.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

The UK, it has more military, political, economic, and cultural power than the others.

[Lechasseur]

The UK, it has more military, political, economic, and cultural power than the others.

Absolutely this

[Lechasseur]

The interesting question is who is No. 3. There are good arguments to be made for both Australia and Canada.

Agreed. Who's number 3 is a much more interesting question. Unlike for numbers 1 & 2, there's no obvious answer, both Canada and Australia could seriously claim the spot.

[ABTars2000]

The UK, with the most military power out of the bunch, the highest GDP of the bunch, and the only one with a permanent UNSC seat.

This

[Blue3]

The interesting question is who is No. 3. There are good arguments to be made for both Australia and Canada.

Agreed. Who's number 3 is a much more interesting question. Unlike for numbers 1 & 2, there's no obvious answer, both Canada and Australia could seriously claim the spot.

[MAINEiac4434]

The United Kingdom, until it leaves the European Union and moves behind Canada and Australia.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

The United Kingdom, until it leaves the European Union and moves behind Canada and Australia.

You can't be serious.

[Alabama_Indy10]

The United Kingdom, until it leaves the European Union and moves behind Canada and Australia.

You can't be serious.

[Lechasseur]

The United Kingdom, until it leaves the European Union and moves behind Canada and Australia.

You can't be serious.

[Santander]

The United Kingdom, until it leaves the European Union and moves behind Canada and Australia.

You can't be serious.

Actually, in its current rudderless state, the UK may go through a period where it is unable to exert influence in world affairs to nearly its potential. So no, it's not ridiculous to say that such a thing could happen, at least for a period of time.

The "special relationship" has been the difference in post-war world affairs that set the UK apart from countries like France and Germany on the world stage. Trump doesn't believe in mutually-beneficial friendships, he only believes in transactional relationships, and he cannot be considered a reliable political or economic ally for as long as he remains in office. China emphatically demonstrated in 2014 in Hong Kong that it does not consider the UK to be its equal.  The UK's whimper in response to the dragon's growl was perhaps the most humiliating event for a former colonial power in recent years. The EU has little incentive to play nice with the UK, as we are seeing now. Reaching back to the Commonwealth as Nigel Farage, and the likes often tout would be happy talk at best and humiliating at worst, grasping to breathe life into the faded remnants of once-real glory.

Now, the EU is not an institution I am particularly fond of, nor do I believe further hitching the UK's wagon to Europe is the best path forward. I believe a non-EU UK both can and should be one of the five or so most powerful countries in the world for the next century, but with the way things have unfolded, and how the cards lie on the table, it is naïve to expect anything other than a diminished UK in the near future, where it may indeed operate at only slightly better than a G20 level of influence as it finds its place in the world again. One can only hope the diminishment is short-lived.