This isn't meant to be a hit-piece of a thread, and I would hope that people can behave themselves.

However, it occurred to me that, since I started playing EVE back in 2004, I have constantly heard the Gallente referred to as 'the French,' and that -- during that same time -- I have kind of come to see the other nations as being tied to real-world nationalities. This is my list, as I see EVE's geopolitical and cultural landscape:

Gallente: I don't just view them as French, per se, but western European as a whole. I think they embody just as many elements of modern Dutch and Belgian culture, as well as even some aspects of British liberalism (their ships also, for whatever reason, remind me a bit of British naval architecture in the First World War, though I cannot lay my finger on why), as they do France.

Amarr: They're Byzantine Imperials. It just fits: a Roman/Christian homogenization that embraced widespread slavery, simultaneously hell bent on spreading the word of God via force, and constantly battling what were seen as 'unruly masses' on all fronts. The only thing that doesn't work is that the Amarr themselves look Scandavian to me, which obviously wouldn't fit. Culturally, however, it's mostly a lock... though I think the more puritanical aspects of the Amarr also remind me a bit of the South African Boers of the late 19th century.

Caldari: Germans. No question about this one. Germany is the economic powerhouse of Europe, and has increasingly traded its abandoned Prussian stoicism for rampant commercialism run-amuck.

Minmatar: I went back and forth on this one. I think they are either post-Nixon China (an ethnically-diverse, rising power eager to flex its new muscle on a world stage), or possibly someplace like Vietnam (a little guy who shocked a superpower).

Interestingly, while I see a lot of European influence in the races, there's absolutely none that I look at and say "that's America." Maybe that was intentional on the part of CCP, but I don't get strong U.S. overtones from either the Caldari or the Gallente (the two most likely candidates), and there aren't enough diehard Christians left in America to make us the Amarr (plus, I challenge you to find any upstanding modern American who would willingly associate us with slavery, outside a historical context).