A nation's competitiveness resides not only in their abundance in natural resources but in the quality of its human capital. If a nation lacks the natural resources that are sought for in the world, it can compensate that by focusing on giving its citizens the best education possible in order for them to become skilled workers in the future. This will enable them to with the capacity to generate new knowledge and develop innovating industries which are profitable. The products that these industries produce normally fall in the categories of electronics, software, the automotive industry, and the aviation industry. The country will import the raw material and produce highly specialized products that it will end up selling to those same countries that sold them the raw material.
A clear example of this is Japan. The country lacks the natural resources that other countries have like oil and minerals. However, the Japanese industry is responsible for the creation of many electronics that we use nowadays. This has produced the country incredible wealth over the last 50 years.
The most pressing points of tension with European nations were eliminated during the first half of the century: purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 gave the United States control over the heartland of the
