Britain
Britain
This one is less of a hard recommendation compared to the others, but researchers write that Britain has enough going for it to land a spot in the top five. The paper admits that: “The United Kingdom has an overall complex and mixed picture for ‘favourable starting conditions’,” but that its “temperate climate,” “improving environmental metrics” and “indigenous renewable energy infrastructure” make it a good candidate.
However, the island clearly has a lot of drawbacks, too, including a high population density and fairly small landmass—making for a potential disaster in the event of widespread social disintegration. Researchers readily admit that certain risks “are compounded by the large population and small land area,” meaning that the U.K.’s potential as a “future ‘node of persisting complexity’” is somewhat limited. But hey, the British did rule the world for hundreds of years, so I suppose it’d be unwise to count them out entirely.
