---
title: "10 Greatest Countries in the History of the World: 2021 Reboot"
description: What are the 10 greatest countries in the history of the world? The answer is a great lesson in PR and our trust in historians.
---

[The Trust Signals Blog ](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog)

# [10 Greatest Countries in the History of the World: 2021 Reboot](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/10-greatest-countries-in-the-history-of-the-world-2020-reboot)

 Written by [Scott Baradell](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/author/scott-baradell) | Jul 2, 2020

How much can we trust the history we're taught?

This website is devoted to the [trust signals](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/what-is-a-trust-signal) we send to make others believe in us, our brands, our stories. And so it has been for historians throughout the years. When they write about history, they are not simply assembling dates and facts; they have a perspective and a goal. They want to convince us of something.

Do you remember that great ancient civilization of Carthage, which rivaled Rome in importance and affluence? No? Maybe that's because Rome destroyed it and all record of its past after three brutal wars; the little we know about it today is decidedly biased, and from the Roman perspective. 

And yet, we must try to take the information we have and make the best of it.

Way back in 2006, I was procrastinating when I should have been writing a [bylined article ](https://www.ideagrove.com/blog/why-its-important-to-create-a-bylined-article-strategy)for a client of my PR agency, Idea Grove. We work with a lot of [international clients seeking to enter the U.S. market](https://www.ideagrove.com/blog/a-guide-to-u.s.-public-relations-agencies-for-international-companies). I'd read an article in my research that was highly critical of Italy's political situation at that time. I thought to myself, "Yeah, but all in all, Italy is probably the greatest country in the history of the world."

And then I was off and running on a blog post that would end up receiving more than 750,000 visits over the next 15 years -- and is still clocking in at more than 5,000 visits per month.

Here are the rules I made for this personal parlor game and the resulting post:

I've recently gone back through the list and freshened it up a bit. Not a lot of big changes (we're evaluating all of recorded history, after all), but I did drop a couple countries a slot or two and dropped one country off the list. The original post sparked a lot of debate -- and more than 1,000 comments -- so we'll see how the reboot does.

Additionally, I recently wrote a companion piece to this one, titled "[The 20 Most Trustworthy Countries in the World](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/the-20-most-trusted-countries-in-the-world)," so if you want to see how some of history's greatest countries rate, [check it out](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/the-20-most-trusted-countries-in-the-world).

OK, without further ado, here we go — the Top 10, starting with the greatest country in the history of the world:

By my measure, Spain, Japan, France, Germany and a few others just missed out. OK — who did I miss?

Want to read more history with a PR twist? Try some of my other posts:

- [What I Learned Home-Schooling My Kids in History: Our Best Days & What They Teach Us ](https://www.ideagrove.com/blog/the-10-best-and-worst-days-in-the-history-of-the-united-states/)(Idea Grove blog)
- [What I Learned Home-Schooling My Kids in History, Part 2: Four Lessons in Leadership ](https://www.ideagrove.com/blog/leadership-lessons-from-home-schooling)(Idea Grove blog)
- [Rhetoric Gone Wrong: 75 People and a Cat Who've Been Compared to Hitler ](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/rhetoric-gone-wrong-75-people-and-a-cat-whove-been-compared-to-hitler)(Trust Signals blog)
- [What Is the Most Accurate Prediction Ever Made in a Speech By a U.S. President? ](https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-accurate-prediction-ever-made-in-a-speech-by-a-U-S-president/answer/Scott-Baradell)(Quora)
- [Back Then, What Did You Think of President Carter's Malaise Speech and What Do You Think About It Now?](https://www.quora.com/Back-then-what-did-you-think-of-the-Jimmy-Carter-malaise-speech-and-what-do-you-think-about-it-now/answer/Scott-Baradell) (Quora)
- [Why Is the Confederacy So Important to Some Americans?](https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-Confederacy-so-important-to-some-Americans/answer/Scott-Baradell) (Quora)

[View full post](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/10-greatest-countries-in-the-history-of-the-world-2020-reboot)

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