America's political leadership in Asia is in doubt and its diplomatic influence has been damaged by the Trump administration's foreign policy decisions, a new power index has found.
The Lowy Institute is launching the interactive online index, which measures power across 25 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, at the Asia Society in New York on Tuesday, at an event hosted by former prime minister Kevin Rudd.
The index measures power over eight broad categories; military might, economic resources, future potential, diplomatic and cultural clout, alliances, trade and resilience.
America might be ranked top dog on the new Asia Power Index, but US President Donald Trump's political leadership is on a par with Cambodia's contentious leader.
The index concludes that overall the United States remains the pre-eminent power in Asia but China is rapidly closing in.
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Japan ranked third and India fourth, both securing major power status.
Australia ranked sixth overall, behind Russia, but joined Singapore and South Korea in sharing kudos for punching above their respective weights on the world stage.
Despite the hullabaloo over North Korea's nuclear weapon's threat, the index finds Pyongyang's power is mostly overestimated - the reclusive state ranks 17th.
Ahead of a historic North Korean-US diplomatic summit, the index finds dictator Kim Jong-il's political leadership comes in ninth - four places ahead of US president Donald Trump who shares 13th spot with Cambodian leader Hun Sen, .
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was fifth-placed, with China, Japan, Singapore, India's leaders ranking higher.
While the US was streets ahead in the majority of categories, its Achilles heel was in trade ties and diplomatic influence.
"US diplomatic influence in the region has been damaged by nervousness about the Trump administration and its foreign policy decisions, including its withdrawal in 2017 from the Trans-Pacific Partnership," the Lowy Institute report says.
"US political leadership in Asia is in doubt."
The index found China's One Belt, One Road trans-national infrastructure building initiative was a factor boosting its standing on trade, diplomatic influence and future prospects.
Meanwhile, while Indonesia ranks 10th overall the index pegs the southeast Asian nation as one to watch.
In the "future trends" category it ranks fourth.
By 2030, Indonesia's economy is expected to overtake Japan's and Russia's to be the fourth-largest among countries on the index.
* The power index is available at: http://power.lowyinstitute.org/
