Russia

Analysis

Russia is a middle power in Asia.

Russia’s overall score declined by 1.8 points compared to 2019. The country is one of eighteen in the region to trend downward in its overall score in 2020, largely due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The country is well placed among middle powers in the region. However, it is closely followed by Australia and trails India by a more distant six points.

Russia performs best in the resilience measure, where it places 2nd, reflecting the country’s ample resource security and well-established nuclear deterrence capability. Despite ranking third for military capability, Russia’s loss of more than five points in that measure in 2020 reflects its diminished relative standing among regional military powers.

Moscow’s lowest ranking is in the economic relationships measure, coming in at 15th place as a result of its underdeveloped regional trade and investment ties.

In 2020, Russia saw its greatest improvement in defence networks, where it moved up one place as other countries in the region declined in stature within the measure. However, it has also slipped by one place in the diplomatic influence measure.

Moscow exerts less influence in the region than expected given its available resources, as indicated by the country’s negative power gap score. Among other reasons, this points to Russia’s influence being limited by its position on the geographic periphery of Asia.

Read more analysis in the Key Findings report. Explore further results in the Scores section.