The Most Powerful Nation ?

US National Intelligence Council released the latest list of most powerful nations of the World. Quite expectedly USA topped the list followed by China, India as second and third most powerful nations well ahead of other UN security council permanent members like UK, Russia, France, Germany etc.

Any survey, any opinion, any debate, there can't be more powerful nation than US. US has attained this position with sheer hard-work, optimal utilization of resources, sustaining freedom and liberty, improving standard of living, augmenting defense might and of course a very intelligent image building mechanism.

Million Dollar Question: Then why US lost a war against minnows like Vietnam and now is on the verge of loosing another war against a non-entity like Al Qaeda ?

There are more odds than evens. Going deeper:

America is projected as an invincible, unbeatable superpower by (1) Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings (2) Foreign Relation Diplomacy (3) Economy (4) Media (5) Hollywood

World War -2 and subsequent atom bombing of Japanese cities as a retaliation to pearl harbor kamikaze attacks stamped US as a military giant. Before or after that, history didn't see any remarkable power display by US, except an illogical gulf war. Remember any ?

Thanks to its military giant image and cold war with then USSR, US was/is considered the most intervening nation of the world. Vietnam War was a blow on US' image of a super-power and world police. The setback against Vietnamese guerrillas was unexpected and unprepared for.

Two of the most bloody conflicts in the world history: Israel-Palestine and India-Pakistan were fanned to its current gravity by American vested interests and military support to one or both the parties involved. US direct intervention in Korean crisis, Iraq-Kuwait conflict received much criticism as US didn't hold any direct interest in the areas in conflict.

United Nations (UNO), an organization supposedly established to maintain international peace was eventually dwarfed and silenced into an American accomplice. NATO and Commonwealth jokers like UK, Canada, France, Australia were dumb American puppets as ever.

Icing on the cake is the ongoing "War on Terror" where ironically the so called terror is the brainchild of US itself. Al Qaeda and Taliban were supported in their inception by US to counter USSR influence over South Asia and now waging a loosing war against the same forces. Its almost been a decade of search for Osama Bin Laden and the results are known to the whole world. A serious dent on "Most powerful Nation's" military, exchequer and brand image.

The frustration was vented on Iraq with a lamest possible excuse that Saddam Hussain has weapons of mass destruction (more destructive than nuclear warheads ?@#$) and after not finding any such weapons, captured and executed Saddam Hussain for abusing human rights (not in US but in his own Iraq). Nobody else could question US' rights of hanging a Country's president to death for mishandling his own subjects (though the white secret is to plunder Iraqi oil resources). Incidentally US supported Iraq's weapons program during Iran-Iraq war.

Waging a decade old battle on terror on one side and selling weapons to Pakistan, an aide of terror is a hallmark of American supreme foreign policy and diplomacy. Again nobody could question them. Reasons ?

The single most acceptable reason for this American hegemony is "US Economy". the richest economy, the most traded currency and the richest treasury. Money power which results in muscle power is the reason and this is remarkably similar to the unquestioned and feared power of villains / gangsters in movies or real life.

With economy came the power to buy or control anything, everything in the world. US was shrewd enough to invest the rampant money in development in various areas and it worked out spectacularly well. This resulted in ubiquitous "number one" image of US.

Media played a beautiful role in projecting Numero Uno status. News articles, documentaries, projection of life standards mostly in English language which is most followed and accepted language of the world, made US a dreamland of opportunities for millions. None of these American crazy masses know the kind of development in France, Germany, Russia or China due to the language barrier. So it worked out rather well for USA.

Hollywood catalyzed a heroic image of US. Movies precipitated patriotism among American masses and movies of various genres like war, action have put US in a superior league. NYPD, LAPD, SWAT are always depicted as supernatural heroes (without delving in the facts that five crime families of NYC control the mafia and crime that affects half of the planet). The whole world along with Americans themselves patronizes these movies and idolizes American heroism.

Having said all these, I acknowledge that US is successful in creating, managing the image which is enviable and almost impossible for any other nation of this world.