Country of the Year?

Guest Opinion

Every Christmas, The Economist names “The Country of the Year.” The magazine’s choices are not based on the happiest country, because if they were, the choice would always be a dull affair, as a Scandinavian country (hello, my beloved Sweden) would always be chosen as the happiest country in the world.

The Economist’s criterion resonates deeply with me. It should resonate with you as well, because understanding what constitutes “the country of the year” can provide the USA with a yardstick for measuring improvement.

The magazine selects the country that has improved the most over the past year. The improvement could be economic, political, or in any other meaningful way. Any country that strives to put its best face forward and consistently improves to serve all its citizens—not just billionaires—qualifies.

The envelope, please: This year’s country of the year is none other than Syria, an indisputable choice given the country’s turbulent year.

It’s hard to argue against this selection. Consider these facts: politically, Syria has improved more than any other country, especially given how awful it was just a year ago. The Economist notes that “Little more than a year ago [the country] was ruled by Bashar al-Assad, a demented dictator backed by Iran and Russia.” It isn’t easy to imagine two more detestable benefactors than these two outlaw countries.

Assad had stuffed his jails with political prisoners, and any dissent was met with torture or death, often both in succession (first he and his men would torture you, then swiftly followed by a violent, ugly, and grisly death). After a war that had lasted an incredible 13 years, at least a million citizens had perished. Even more hideously, Assad had directed his armed forces to use chemical weapons on his own people! Six million people fled the country in search of a better, safer life.

Eventually, Assad was forced to flee for his life, and a rebel group seized power in December 2024. The rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) surprised everyone by granting Syrians greater freedoms. Women were no longer required to wear restrictive garments or remain at home. Restrictions on alcohol and entertainment were lifted, and Syria began developing diplomatic relations with Western and Gulf states. Many Syrians returned home.

In 2025, Syrians felt happier because they were freer. The heavy, almost universal veil of fear that once draped Syria has found a new, unlikely home: the United States of America.

In 1983, my Dutch American wife and I entered an essay contest about the Netherlands’ influential role in the world. We, along with 199 other Americans, won an all-expenses-paid vacation to the Netherlands to meet Queen Beatrice. The occasion celebrated 200 years of unbroken diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and the U.S.

On the way to the Rijksmuseum to meet the queen, our driver had circled the museum three times, and we asked why he wasn’t stopping. He replied, “We shouldn’t arrive too early.” We later learned that a radical group had threatened to bomb the museum.

Cold War tensions and domestic and social anxieties left the Netherlands unsettled in 1983. Our return flight was unsettling, too; a legion of armed men with automatic weapons patrolled Schiphol Airport. Marlene said, “I’ll be so glad to get back to the States; this would never happen in America.”

But it has. Trump’s first year back in office has created fear and anxiety in the U.S., similar to what has happened in Syria. He deployed armed forces to American cities to crack down on migration at the border; ordered the National Guard into towns to help arrest “illegal aliens”; attacked judges he disagreed with; renamed the Defense Department the Department of War; and used masked ICE agents to arrest and “disappear” even American citizens. And, in a typical strongman move, he slapped his name on anything that didn’t move.

In a little over a year, a nightmarish mood descended on the U.S. Americans are at each other’s throats. Racial discrimination claims not made by white males are scoffed at and dismissed, even though white males hold at least 90 percent of high-level jobs in government and private institutions. High-level government officials have been summarily fired and replaced with people whose only qualification is fealty to Trump. Incredibly, Trump is now importing white South Africans, the beneficiaries of apartheid, as alleged victims of black racists?

There’s more, but we have limited time and space. We leave you with this admonition: Never in history has one man caused such havoc in one nation in such short order.

If the USA is to be The Economist’s 2026 “country of the year,” it must change, and those changes must start at the top.

Isiah Smith, Jr. is a retired government attorney.

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