Each country and every civilization in its own way, wants to be considered to be on the right way and on the correct path for the benefit of their fellow countrymen. Further to the point, life consists to a certain natural degree of comparisons, one country to another, one thing to another, in which the object of the exercise, apt or not, is to determine as to which country is doing better than another in regards to things that are often measurable, such as income, wealth, incarceration, education, achievements, healthcare, justice, social activities, and so on and so forth. The point of such an exercise is to compare, fairly, one system to another, and from that comparison to thereby determine the success of a given system, by the fairest possible standard, which typically would consist of the tangible results of a particular system.
Additionally, there is a very valid reason as to why societies should be concerned about the results of the systems that they live under, because only by the careful evaluation of those results, is it possible, to make adjustments to those systems in order to thereby achieve better and subsequently the preferred results. To not do so, means that the powers to be, don't really care about results, per se; but rather simply care more about maintaining their power, or their position, at the expense of making necessary adjustments to the system by learning from the application of such in the real world, as not everything that appears good on paper or in theory, works out as expected, in reality.
This thus signifies, that any country, that within its founding of such, or the principles that actuate such, which are based around such noble ideals such as freedom, liberty, equality, justice, fairness, tranquility, and the pursuit of happiness, of which these all are desired on the behalf of promoting the general welfare for the people, should be fairly judged by the outcome of those promises made from that government of, by, and for the people. This then is the true test of any system, for that system which promises great benefits, should be adjudged by whether or not those benefits do occur, as well as by the overall fairness and distribution of those benefits throughout the entire population. From those results, good or bad, that system should be evaluated, for that is the truest test of such.
So that, any country or civilization, believing it to be a great country or civilization, should be objectively judged by the results of their system and thereby the outcome of that system as propagated throughout its entire population; of which, those systems that are truly successful will only be those systems that have results that faithfully reflect such. This thus means, that all the noise about the greatness of certain countries and specific civilizations, really comes down to not what those at the very top have to say and show, but rather how those that are the forgotten, the forsaken, and the disenfranchised, are being treated within those countries in the here and now; for that is the true measure of any good system, for these systems that do not fairly aid their weakest members have yet to yield and will not yield the grand bountiful harvest that all are equally entitled to.