In our quest to find the 10 easiest and hardest countries to conquer we have come across many surprising names. Countries like Indonesia (amongst the top 20 in the hardest countries to conquer) should not just be considered just a tourist spot but a force to reckon with. Do you think countries with king or queens are the harder to conquer? Our post 10 countries that have a king or queen might help you with the answer. For now, the big question is how we rank the easiest and hardest countries to conquer. The answer to this is not an easy one but here is a brief of the methodology we used.
The first ranking criterion that we have used is the strength of the armed forces. For this we have used the Global Firepower List of 126 countries, which is based on over 50 factors that elaborate a country’s power index. To make smaller countries, with limited resources able to compete with larger countries, the Global Firepower list has ignored many factors like nuclear capability, a number of weapons’ systems, leadership status, etc. Countries that don’t have an active Navy have not been penalized for the fact. The research, however, takes into account geographical factors, availability of natural resources, the strength of the economy, etc.
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Our second criterion is the GDP. The military strength alone is not enough to defend a country if it is not backed by a strong economy. Nations at war require a huge amount of money to feed its citizens and provide its military with whatever supplies they need during a conflict. There are countries like Pakistan that are militarily very strong but when it comes to the economy, they are a sad story. India to some extent has a similar fate. To get the names of the strongest and weakest economies in the world, we have used a data set from World Bank, which has ranked the countries according to their GDP.
No country can win a war or defend its borders if it’s politically unstable. Imagine what would happen to a country which is a nuclear power but it filled with dissidents? Such a nation would be a threat to itself as well as to the whole world. Therefore, our third criterion for the 10 easiest and hardest countries to conquer is the political stability of a nation. For this we have used the Fragile State Index, which takes into account factors like government’s control over its territories, quality of public services, economic stability, corruption, etc.
Insider Monkey has picked the least and top performing states in each category and then averaged out the result to get the unique ranking. Now, without any further ado let’s discover the list of 10 easiest countries to conquer.
10. Liberia
Liberia is both weak in economic growth and political stability.
Average Ranking: 24.5
9. Zimbabwe
Another African country on our list of 10 easiest countries to conquer, Zimbabwe has a very unstable political system and armed forces that are also considered among the weakest in the world.
Average Ranking: 23
8. Afghanistan
Afghanistan has been in war for decades. This is only due to its poor political system, which also results in one of the weakest armed forces in the world. Although history teaches us that conquering Afghanistan may not be impossible, holding on to it is another matter entirely, as British, Soviets, and Americans have experienced firsthand.
Average Ranking: 16.5
7. Guinea-Bissau
The reason why Guinea-Bissau finds itself at number 7 on our list is poor GDP and political situation/stability.
Average Ranking: 16.5
6. The Central African Republic
The Central African Republic is the third most politically destabilized nation in the world. It also doesn’t have a very strong military.
Average Ranking: 16.33
5. Libya
Libya ranks number 6 when it comes to countries with weakest armed forces. The political situation in Libya is not an ideal one either.
Average Ranking: 15
4. Iraq
Like Afghanistan, Iraq has faced many wars in its history. The fact that it has lost the last two wars it was involved in has made its armed forces very weak, as we saw in their recent conflict with ISIS.
Average Ranking:13.5
3. The Republic of Congo
The Republic of Congo faces two major problems – the poor political structure and one of the weakest armed forces in the world. The country is at number 3 in our list of easiest countries to conquer.
Average Ranking: 8
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2. South Sudan
South Sudan is ranked number one when it comes to most politically fragile nations. It also ranks 6th amongst the state with weakest armed forces.
Average Ranking: 3.5
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1. Somalia
Somalia has been facing all types of problems as a state. It is the weakest when it comes to military power. Lack of an effective government would seriously hamper any defensive effort if push come to the shove.
Average Ranking: 1.5
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Now, the hardest countries to conquer…
10. Canada
At number ten we have Canada with an average ranking of 12. The country is amongst the top 15 states in all the three categories we have used.
Average Ranking: 12
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9. Australia
Australia is the 9th most politically stable countries in the world and performs pretty well in other two categories as well.
Average Ranking: 11.33
8. France
The European giant, France is at number 8 in our list of 10 hardest countries to conquer. The country has always been very strong militarily and also is ranked as the 6th most economically stable nations.
Average Ranking: 10.33
7. South Korea
South Korea might not be politically very stable but it has one of the strongest armed forces and its economy is a powerhouse.
Average Ranking: 10
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6. United Kingdom
United Kingdom is at number 5 amongst countries with the strongest armed forces and countries with strongest GDP. It ranks number 18 when it comes to political stability.
Average Ranking: 9.33
5. Germany
Germany is not new to wars and defending its borders. It has the 8th strongest military in the world, 4th strongest GDP and finds itself amongst the top 15 most politically stable states in the world.
Average Ranking: 8.6
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4. India
India has a similar story to South Korea. It has been facing a lot of problems in politics, but its economy and military are ranked rather high.
Average Ranking: 6.5
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3. Japan
The technological giant is at number 3 on our list mainly because of a strong military presence and a top GDP growth.
Average Ranking: 6
2. China
Another BRICS nation, China might have its own political problem but has one of the strongest GDP growth and the largest armed forces in the world.
Average Ranking: 2.5
1. USA
USA’s name on top is no surprise at all. The country ranks number 1 amongst the countries with strongest armed forces and also amongst the countries with the strongest GDP.
Average Ranking: 1
This has been the list of 10 easiest and hardest countries to conquer. Tell us, did any country on the list surprise you?
