Channing, this ZOGGED US/Israel aggression in the middle east is bad news. You really need to come home. I need you to stop coping about the Balkans being better than the USA. They're not. Not in any metric.

Let me break it down for you by just using Missouri.

Size & Population (2025 estimates)
Missouri: 6.27 million people, land area 179,000 km²
Serbia: ~6.7 million people, land area 77,600–88,500 km² (depending on Kosovo inclusion)
Albania: ~2.36–2.4 million people, land area 28,700 km²
Montenegro: ~0.62 million people, land area 13,900 km²

Serbia is the closest match to Missouri in population. Missouri is geographically larger than any of the three (and larger than all three combined).

Economy (2024–2025)
GDP per capita (nominal USD)
Missouri: ~$72,000 (BEA-derived from ~$449 billion total GDP / population)
Serbia: ~$17,300 (IMF)
Montenegro: ~$16,400 (IMF)