Factors of state power: from hard to soft power, 2018

The chart seeks to compare seven countries or group of countries (the EU) according to different power criteria. The EU is atypical because it has no common policy for most of the criteria; the figures for member states therefore have to be added up. The United States, the EU and China dominate according to various indicators. The greatest contrasts are the absence of a rival to the United States in terms of military spending and stock market capitalization; the attractiveness of EU countries for foreign students and an impressive total of medals at the Olympic Games; the demographic weight of China and India; Japan’s huge investment in R&D; and perhaps the immensity of Russian territory.