Why is Turkey ranked 8th strongest in the global firepower index? Is it an accurate ranking according to military experts?
As a NATO member, Turkey’s military arsenal and inventory, as well as active duty and reserve force numbers are transparent.If you consider every MBT and every single fighter jet equal, like just a matter of numbers; then yes it is highly possible to rank 8th.M1 Abrams is a MBT, M60A4 Leopard II is a MBT. Are they equal? No. Su-35 and Typhoons are both jets. Are they equal? No.However, a full-scale war cannot be measured by military firepower alone. Most important aspect of a military effectiveness is highly trained personnel.Turkey has not “fought” in WW2, but starting from 1919, the country had fought enough battles. Even though it suffered from lack of equipment and funds.More than half of active duty personnel (mostly ranked officers and NCOs) have active combat experience, especially in the Middle-East. For the last four decades, Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) have fought terrorists in mountain ranges, the desert, urban areas; at all weather conditions.Especially after “failed coup-attemt” which took place on July 15th, 2016, TAF have increased combat effectiveness since some personnel serving a hidden-agenda in favor of Gulen movement, have been relieved of their positions.Just remember that Turkish nation never have been a colony. Good or bad, it always had a sovereign country. And Turks managed to do it through its military. Always.It does not have all the tanks, all the jets in the world. However, it has the spirit. Because Turks have a saying: Every Turk is a born-soldier!This answer does not have numerical facts, this is my personal opinion.
Is Globalfirepower a reliable site?
The rankings certainly aren't baseless if you believe that the "the final GFP rankings are based on a formula taking some 45 factors into account and compiling totals against each country, applying bonuses and penalties as needed to generate this list." The weighting they apply to those 45 factors isn't revealed, however. There are certain numbers which I can't see much use for (is 'total manpower' really likely to be an issue in modern warfare?), and some which seem completely irrelevant in an offensive war (land area, miles of coast/border etc), but it's probably as good a set of rankings as any. I don't think it's foolish enough to claim that country #42 will necessarily kick #59's árse in a conflict. EDIT: re Argentina/Greece, it's difficult to see how they have Argentina as being the stronger; looking at a couple of categories it appears that the Greek forces are generally more modern, as well as numerically superior. I guess if the two countries have some imaginary 'total war' in a political vacuum them Argentina's much larger population and oil reserves come into play, but still...
Why aren't the Netherlands in the Global Firepower Top 55?
Simply because the Netherlands isn't in the list, most of the nations aren't in. It's just a coincidence, I don't know on what the nations are selected, but it's impossible to attain good information on every nation. So they only took 60 or so nations in total.
Is GlobalFirepower totally biased and untruthful?
Why don't you look at how they come up with the rankings using those data points... I just looked ...what you left off the above is oil and $$$ reserves... From what I looked at..it seems Greece is at max capacity right now...she is barely managing to pay for what she has... while Austria could mobilize a larger military..and pay for it...Austria has more $$$ and more oil Edit: A modern military force relies totally on logistics. Withoout fuel you aren't going to be able to do a whole lot. Especially outside of your own borders.
Is globalfirepower.com a good source? If not, what's a better one?
No, it is not a very good source as all rankings are based on quantity rather than quality. In truth, the best source is one's own research on recent operations and endeavors for a country's armed forces. Then you can formulate a real opinion based on factual evidence. However, I would also like to add that the top 3 on GFI, are the top 3 regardless. It's the countries that follow those that will change through research.
How does Canada's Military Compare on the Global scale?
Canada's military is not large, but what they lack in size they make up for in ability to fight! They are among the greatest fighters in the world, bar none!!! I'm an American but, they are as good in a fight as we are any day! They give it their all in every fight in which they have ever been involved! My Grandmother was French Canadian, best people to have on your side in any situation!
Will the US lose its global clout?
Change is the only constant thing in the world. Past superpowers have lost their influence and America will also lose its dominance or influence.Superpowers lose their clout suddenly if case of a disastrous loss in war or a break-up of their country. But if there is no war or break-up then then the country would lose their influence over so many decades. Britain ceased to be the Superpower during world war and even today they play a far bigger role in international arena. Indian economy is going to overtake British economy this year, India has a better ranking than Britain in latest global firepower ranking, India is bigger country in terms of area & population. But still Britain is far ahead than Indian in international-geo politics and they are still permanent member of Security Council. Russia is not even a top 10 economy but still has disproportionate influence due to its past legacy.It is evident that American power is on decline but still America may remain as most potent military power for next so many decades. China may surpass America as largest economy but Americans will enjoy a high degree of financial influence due to Bretton Woods, position of dollar as world currency etc. America has built so many institutional like NATO and it has some very good friends like Western Europe, Japan etc. which may help America to have considerable influence in global affairs. Its knowledge economy is still very powerful. America is still home to many top educational institutes and big multinational corporations and America is the oldest modern democracy. China or any other competitor will have to do better than America in many different aspects.American power will fade very slowly and they may remain a global power (if not the supermen power) at the end of 21st century.