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US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs

theguardian.com

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Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs

#41

Post by ashleyn »

futureshock wrote: post #32
BirAdam wrote: post #6

I agree that Dual Citizenship is a dream among a large plurality of Americans, but I don’t think it’s for Visa-free tourism. I think it’s because a growing number of Americans feel that the country is unstable and likely headed toward a failed-state status.

I’ll borrow ideas from investing: financial independence, diversification and optionality. If you have enough money you can free yourself from the labor market, but you are still deeply tied to your home country. A second citizenship gives you geopolitical independence. And just like diverse investments protect you from the failure of a specific asset, diverse countries can protect you from, for example, a collapse i…

What would be the most realistic and best option for a second visa for someone with a ~$1-3MM net worth?

Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs

#42

Post by dotnet00 »

BirAdam wrote: post #6

I agree that Dual Citizenship is a dream among a large plurality of Americans, but I don’t think it’s for Visa-free tourism. I think it’s because a growing number of Americans feel that the country is unstable and likely headed toward a failed-state status.

Not a citizen, but yes, I've had a shift in perspective lately and noticed a similar shift among other immigrants of keeping backup options in mind rather than thinking of America as a reliable place to be.

Even if we view the current situation as temporary and it goes away in 4 years, the knowledge that a large chunk of the population is just looking for an excuse to harass immigrants and destroy their life regardless of citizenship status, pulls America down to the level of many other places, which maybe have similar issues but do much better on other things.

Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs

#44

Post by keiferski »

BirAdam wrote: post #6

I agree that Dual Citizenship is a dream among a large plurality of Americans, but I don’t think it’s for Visa-free tourism. I think it’s because a growing number of Americans feel that the country is unstable and likely headed toward a failed-state status.

Yeah as an American that has been living abroad for a decade and will be a dual citizen soon: I don’t agree with that take at all.

The vast majority of people in the US still see their future in the US. Dual citizenship, much less actually living abroad, is still an extremely niche topic and basically only a thing amongst upper middle class and above professionals and tech workers.

And as chaotic and concerning as many political events may be, the idea that the US will become “a failed state” is pretty divorced from the actual reality of what that term means. If the US becomes a failed state, trust me, the rest of the world will be too.

Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs

#45

Post by mchaver »

newswangerd wrote: post #16

I’ve always argued that the US is the most powerful passport despite not granting access to the most countries for one simple reason: it’s one of only half a dozen passports that lets you visit the US visa free.

To build on that, I would say the most powerful passports/citizenships are the ones that let you live/work in your desired country. It may be different for different people. The ability to travel visa free to many places, while nice, doesn't always trump the right to abode in a particular place.

Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs

#46

Post by Argonaut998 »

victor106 wrote: post #5

Does this really matter? US is the most powerful country in the world economically and militarily and maybe even culturally.

No it really doesn't matter. This crap is just a vanity metric to make people feel better about themselves or to feel self-righteous.

You just need to look at the countries that require a tourist(!) visa of Americans, the vast majority are irrelevant. I can't wait to go to Eritrea, too bad I need a visa :(

Tourism is not a big deal either, I think freedom to work/live is a much better metric, but obviously the USA is not great in that regard. The USA is the strongest passport because it is the only passport that allows permanent residency and/or visa free travel in the US, aside from Canada and a few billionaire tax haven islands or other stragglers.

>maybe even culturally

Yes, in my country young women have an American accent from watching TikTok.

Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs

#47

Post by [deleted] »

ashleyn wrote: post #41
futureshock wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ll borrow ideas from investing: financial independence, diversification and optionality. If you have enough money you can free yourself from the labor market, but you are still deeply tied to your home country. A second citizenship gives you geopolitical independence. And just like diverse investments protect you from the failure of a specific asset, diverse countries can protect you from, for example, a collapse i…

What would be the most realistic and best option for a second visa for someone with a ~$1-3MM net worth?

[deleted]

Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs

#48

Post by sojournerc »

khuey wrote: post #36

More applicable to the average American traveler's life than whether they can visit 180 or 181 countries without a visa is the rise of electronic travel authorization requirements from other countries. The UK imposed one earlier this year and the EU is set to do the same next year (though ETIAS seems perpetually delayed). While everyone involved (except Australia) insists that electronic travel authorizations are not…

Having recently traveled through the UK as a US citizen, it was a 5 minute process in an app. Nothing to be concerned about. Honduras, where I travel frequently, already does fingerprints as the EU is about to do. It's just not a big deal or a barrier to travel. Currently going from Scandinavia to Northern continental Europe and it couldn't be easier. So much FUD for so little change.

Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs

#49

Post by hypeatei »

keiferski wrote: post #44
BirAdam wrote: post #6

I agree that Dual Citizenship is a dream among a large plurality of Americans, but I don’t think it’s for Visa-free tourism. I think it’s because a growing number of Americans feel that the country is unstable and likely headed toward a failed-state status.

Yeah as an American that has been living abroad for a decade and will be a dual citizen soon: I don’t agree with that take at all. The vast majority of people in the US still see their future in the US. Dual citizenship, much less actually living abroad, is still an extremely niche topic and basically only a thing amongst upper middle class and above professionals and tech workers. And as chaotic and concerning as ma…

> And as chaotic and concerning as many political events may be, the idea that the US will become “a failed state” is pretty divorced from the actual reality

Becoming a failed state overnight? Probably not, I agree. Midterm elections are approaching and the federal government has already shown its willingness to deploy the military to big cities for intimidation purposes. Also don't forget: our current President also tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election. I feel like we get stuck in this "nothing ever happens" loop while our liberties slowly get stripped away and even after a thing happens, we delude ourselves by saying it won't actually get that bad. Frogs in a pot.

Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs

#50

Post by pydry »

futureshock wrote: post #32
BirAdam wrote: post #6

I agree that Dual Citizenship is a dream among a large plurality of Americans, but I don’t think it’s for Visa-free tourism. I think it’s because a growing number of Americans feel that the country is unstable and likely headed toward a failed-state status.

I’ll borrow ideas from investing: financial independence, diversification and optionality. If you have enough money you can free yourself from the labor market, but you are still deeply tied to your home country. A second citizenship gives you geopolitical independence. And just like diverse investments protect you from the failure of a specific asset, diverse countries can protect you from, for example, a collapse i…

>And just like diverse investments protect you from the failure of a specific asset, diverse countries can protect you from, for example, a collapse in heath care, a housing crisis or a currency crisis.

Although, just like certain asset classes correlate strongly, certain countries are geopolitically, economically, militarily tied at the hip and will both rise and fall together.

I wouldnt consider anywhere western a good hedge against America going down coz it has a really good chance of getting dragged down with it.

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