About
The Global Influence Index
The Global Influence Index (GII) is a first-of-its-kind tool to measure the worldwide influence of both the U.S. and China.
Strategic competition between the U.S. and China is a defining element of the geopolitical landscape that decision makers, both in the public and private sector, must account for when they take action.
The GII was built for this specific challenge. The GII’s data-driven model allows the end user to receive the most accurate depiction of the competitive global landscape. Intensive open-source data collection and advanced algorithms are used to synthesize 28 independent variables that indicate influence across the political, economic, and security spectrum.
The result: The GII has mapped the influence of the U.S. and China for 191 countries showing through their GII Score where the U.S. maintains a dominant position, but also where China has the edge. The GII’s ability to measure influence quantifiably also enables it to show where on the influence spectrum – political, economic, or security – the U.S. or China holds an advantage or disadvantage.
The GII’s flexible architecture also means that it will be able to track and evolve with the competitive landscape, ensuring decision makers will receive the valuable intelligence they need to determine how to prioritize their efforts and resources.
Global Influence Index Team
Josh Young is the Executive Director of the China Economic & Strategy Initiative (CESI) and Program Director for the Global Influence Index. Prior to CESI, Josh worked in the private sector helping Fortune 500 companies achieve their business objectives in the Indo-Pacific. Prior to that, Josh served in the Department of Defense as the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Affairs, and also a Country Director for Japan where he managed the U.S.-Japan Alliance. Josh started his career on Capitol Hill, working for the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
Matthew Phelan is a Senior Policy Analyst at the China Economic & Strategy Initiative and Project Lead for the Global Influence Index. Before joining CESI, Matthew graduated from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Relations with a master’s in international relations, focusing on East Asia Studies.
CESI
The Global Influence Index is a product of the China Economic & Strategy Initiative (CESI). CESI is a nonprofit research organization committed to promoting American values and developing an economic strategy to compete, and win, against China. The GII is part of CESI’s core mission to provide policymakers a foundation to view and analyze the geopolitical landscape, so that sound decisions can be made on how the U.S., and its allies, must position itself for strategic competition with China.
Acknowledgements
A special thank you is extended to the CESI leadership for their guidance on this project, to our team of outside experts for their knowledge and insights, and to those that have made generous contributions to make this work possible.
The Global Influence Index website was designed and built by Brody Smith and his design team.
The comprehensive set of country flags come from Stephen Hutchings' flown library. Country shapefiles courtesy of Natural Earth Data.