Why is it 'a United States' in this sentence instead of 'the United States'?

Question

Japan, Turkey, and Poland will each be facing a United States even more confident than it was after the second fall of the Soviet Union.

Source: The Next 100 Years by George Friedman

I used to see a definite article - "the" with "United States". Even more peculiar it makes that fact that "States" is a plural noun and plural nouns don't take an "a" article.

United States isn't plural, it is a proper noun describing one country. It's like the Marshal Islands or the Netherlands - it may end in an 's' but it's sill just one country. — ColleenV, Jul 29 '16 at 16:56
Related: Their campaign mounts in fury as a free Europe crumbles — CowperKettle, Jul 29 '16 at 17:01
Just replace "United States" with the word country; that's how it's intended to be read – Japan, Turkey, and Poland will each be facing a country even more confident than it was before. It's an interesting construct, but you do see it from time to time. — J.R., Jul 29 '16 at 17:09
OK. Let's assume that a United States is one of a set of versions of possible future [the] US. Will it be a mistake to use an article - "the" in this context ? — Dirty Hippy, Jul 29 '16 at 17:22
I think that's the point that J.R. is making: this is kind of a hypothetical construction. We're not just talking about any United States, but the particular hypothetical US that is more confident. So that's why it's correct to use the. — stangdon, Jul 29 '16 at 17:40
Related: the name of a political party in Russia is "A Just Russia" — CowperKettle, Jul 30 '16 at 09:58
Futher George Friedman use the article - "the" in similar situation — Dirty Hippy, Jul 30 '16 at 16:48

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 29 '16 at 17:48

The source is correct, even though I could see how it would seem strange.

Think about it this way: When mentioning the U.S, the source is talking about a specific "version" of the country: A "version" that is more confident than your every-day United States.

Japan, Turkey, and Poland will each be facing a version of the United States even more confident than it was...

It's not super common, but you will see that technique used every once in a while.

Also, as Colleen mentioned, "United States" is not plural because it is the name of a single country.

Why is it 'a United States' in this sentence instead of 'the United States'?

1 Answers1