BLUF
The Lowy Asia Power Index for 2020 ranks states across the region in terms of their relative power and their ability to shape their environment.
Summary
The Lowy Institute maps power through 128 indicators across the following eight measures: resources, military capability and defence networks, economic capability and relationships, diplomatic and cultural influence, as well as resilience and future resources. One of Lowy’s aims is to provide data on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a country’s ability to project power. Using Lowy’s interactive map https://power.lowyinstitute.org/. Australia’s details can be found here https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/australia/ Lowy notes that: ‘In 2020, Australia had the biggest gains in cultural influence (+4.1). It lost the most points in military capability (−1.2). Elsewhere, it improved in economic relationships (+3.1), diplomatic influence (+2.2), defence networks (+1.4), future resources (+0.8) and economic capability (+0.6), while trending down in resilience (−0.9’)’. Our rating improved due to an increase in our cultural influence, soft power, however, in terms of military capability, hard power, we dropped a little.