Best country in the whole wide world?

[Panda Express]

well?

[SNJ1985]

I don't think there is one.

[Hatman 🍁]

Definitely not the US. (And not Canada either).

The answer is probably Scandinavian. Norway or Denmark, perhaps.

[Deus Naturae]

"Best" can mean a lot of things, but politically speaking the best country is Liechtenstein.

[Del Tachi]

United States

[GaussLaw]

America easily.  We may not top every statistic, but the employment opportunities, educational institutions, market institutions, and long democratic history make it #1 overall.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Yugoslavia

[politicus]

I don't think there is one.

Agreed, it depends on what you measure. It is a pointless question without some qualification as to what you mean: quality of life. morally best, most capabilities (in that case, clearly the US) etc.

British researcher Simon Anholt tried compiling a list of most beneficial countries. He came up with the Good Country Index:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=198955.0

http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/rich-countries/the-10-best-countries-in-the-world-officially/

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I'm sceptical of a study that labels a tax haven as the most beneficial country in the world. Does he not know where Jedward originated?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

American culture is far too tacky for it to be #1 (not to mention the high levels of poverty, social inequality, and violence compared to other industrialized nations).

[politicus]

Iceland tops the World Economic Forum's list of best country's to be a woman, so that might be worth considering as well:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/11/best-countries-for-women_n_4549918.html

[Mr. Smith]

For once, the NJ Christian has it down. There isn't one.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Probably Germany or Netherlands at this point. 

[Murica!]

Yugoslavia

[Hatman 🍁]

Iceland tops the World Economic Forum's list of best country's to be a woman, so that might be worth considering as well:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/11/best-countries-for-women_n_4549918.html

The fact that Nicaragua and the Philippines are so high on that list means it's obvious that reproductive rights were not factored into this list, and therefore it is a junk list.

[traininthedistance]

I'm partial to New Zealand.

[politicus]

Iceland tops the World Economic Forum's list of best country's to be a woman, so that might be worth considering as well:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/11/best-countries-for-women_n_4549918.html

The fact that Nicaragua and the Philippines are so high on that list means it's obvious that reproductive rights were not factored into this list, and therefore it is a junk list.

Its measuring gender gap, so difference in life conditions to men, but Iceland also tops the UNDP Gender-related development index, which includes reproductive rights.

1. Iceland
2. Norway
3. Australia
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Sweden
7. Switzerland
8. Japan
9. Netherlands
10. France

[TDAS04]

Canada, a Nordic country, or New Zealand.

[Arturo Belano]

kazakhstan greatest country in the world

[Franzl]

Obviously not the US for the average person.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Canada, a Nordic country, or New Zealand.

Yea.  Canada has to get some serious consideration. 

[Mr. Illini]

The United States of America

[Middle-aged Europe]

Norway, obviously.

Norway has the second-oldest written constitution in the world still in effect. It was one of the first countries in the world to introduce women's suffrage (and the first fully sovereign nation to do so, since New Zealand and Australia were still domains of the British Empire at the time).

Since 2001, Norway has been ranked first in the United Nations' Human Development Index, except for '07 and '08 when it came second behind Iceland. It also has the third-largest GDP per capita in the world, following Monaco and Liechtenstein.

[patrick1]

I don't think there is one.

Agreed, it depends on what you measure. It is a pointless question without some qualification as to what you mean: quality of life. morally best, most capabilities (in that case, clearly the US) etc.

British researcher Simon Anholt tried compiling a list of most beneficial countries. He came up with the Good Country Index:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=198955.0

http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/rich-countries/the-10-best-countries-in-the-world-officially/

From that article:) 
"Sweden is known for the famous housing store IKEA as well as it’s Swiss chocolate and Absolut Vodka."  Nice editing

[Redalgo]

Other - I don't think there is one in an objective sense but when I look for indicators of good standards of living through the biasing lenses of personal support for liberal democracy, market socialism, ecologist policies, and a cosmopolitan future for humanity it appears to become a tossup between the Kingdom of Sweden and Commonwealth of Australia.

Norway is a rather solid choice, as well, though I think oil money is only temporarily inflating its image of economic power and that its shift towards liberal economics will eventually take a toll on some attributes of Norwegian society many of us here cannot help but to admire. Moreover, it bothers me a bit that they have leaders so stubborn about avoiding steps towards European integration.

At any rate, to get the results I did I considered scores from the Multiculturalism Policies in Contemporary Democracies site of Queen's University to narrow it down to seven countries and then compared their rankings to those of the U.S. using the Global Innovation Index, a Freedom House report on freedom of the press, the Index of Economic Freedom put forth by the Heritage Foundation and WSJ, and weighed some developmental indices published by the United Nations Development Programme.

The only measure that put the United States squarely ahead of the countries I was focused on was GDP per capita (PPP), according to the World Bank, but even then the U.S. was only outclassing Australia and Sweden each by about $10,000/yr. - not enough really to make up for its rank placings in the 20s down through even the high 40s on gender equality, freedom of the press, human development adjusted for income inequality, etc. If hard power is important to emphasize I suppose the U.S. is a better candidate?

Depending on how much one stresses the importance of economic sustainability it is also possible for a few surprising contenders (Vietnam, Guatemala, and Jamaica) to emerge as especially well-balanced for how they perform relative to the amount of environmental damage they inflict.