Name: How Powerful is the UK?
Uploaded: 2014-11-21T17:17:57.000Z
Duration: 2 min 34 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Adverbs of degree

The United Kingdom is just smaller than Oregon, and yet at one time, it ruled a fourth of

world’s population and nearly a quarter of the world’s land mass. But that was then

The answer is....still pretty powerful. Today, the UK is the world’s 6th largest economy,

behind France. A lot of that is due to its island location, which makes it an important

trade route and connecting point between North America, mainland Europe, and Asia. 95%

of Britain’s economic activity depends on these maritime trade routes. So to protect

UK maintains an active military personnel of nearly 205,000 people, and has the world’s

highest defense budget. Their air force currently possesses over 200 combat aircrafts, we well

as a navy fleet that includes 13 frigates and 6 elite destroyers. They do lack an aircraft

but they make up for it, with what’s known as “the nation’s ultimate weapon”; a

“continuous at- sea nuclear deterrent.” These are four high

tech nuclear-capable submarines, one of which is

constantly patrolling the seas surrounding the UK.

This makes them powerful, but they’re still not exactly a superpower. There’s a reason

why Britain had to give up their empire. WWII and the period afterwards maxed out Britain’s

resources. They became increasingly dependent on the US, lost control of India, and with

enormous amount of manpower. By 1956 and their mishandling of the Suez Crisis, it was clear

that Britain could no longer sustain itself or its empire, independently. A mass decolonization

ensued, with Britain granting independence to nearly all of their territories, including

All of this leaves the UK today without the global reach to be considered a superpower.

However, the country still exerts enormous political influence as a key member in many

organizations, including the United Nations Security Council, Nato, and the EU. Through

organizations, and with the support of the US, they’ve rallied international intervention

Afghanistan, and Libya. They also bailed out Ireland and Greece during the global financial

crisis. So while the UK might not be the superpower it once was, it remains a powerful ally for

If you’d like to learn more about the power of other countries, check out our Strength

Nations Playlist. (sound up) Don’t forget to Subscribe. We release new videos 6 days

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