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Asian-Pacific Powers Ranked by Military Strength


The Asia-Pacific region is embroiled in a full-fledged arms race with new programs being funded and alliances being forged.

An arms race is well underway in Asia with China asserting its power through various means and its potential adversaries attempting to keep pace. The primary point of contention remains the resource-rich islands of the South China Sea which are claimed by many of the regional powers (including China, Japan, and Vietnam). Those nations whose borders touch the Pacific Theater are included in this listing.

The GFP list makes use of over 55 factors through an in-house formula. This is used to determine a given nation's Power Index ('PwrIndx') score and, from this, the final ranking is established. The many factors at play allow smaller, more technologically-advanced, nations to compete with larger, lesser-developed, ones. The PwrIndx score takes into account various bonuses and penalties for list refinement that, in the end, helps to present an unbiased look into the potential conventional military strength of a given world power.

For 2018 there are a total of 26 countries included in this listing.

1
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  United States


  PwrIndx: 0.0818, GFP Affiliations: North America; NATO; Apacific
2
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  Russia


  PwrIndx: 0.0841, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; EasternEuro; Asia
3
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  China


  PwrIndx: 0.0852, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Asia
4
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  India


  PwrIndx: 0.1417, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Asia
5
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  South Korea


  PwrIndx: 0.2001, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Asia
6
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  Japan


  PwrIndx: 0.2107, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Asia
7
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  Indonesia


  PwrIndx: 0.3266, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Southeast; Asia
8
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  Pakistan


  PwrIndx: 0.3689, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Asia
9
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  North Korea


  PwrIndx: 0.3876, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Asia
10
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  Vietnam


  PwrIndx: 0.4098, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Southeast; Asia
11
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  Australia


  PwrIndx: 0.4203, GFP Affiliations: Apacific
12
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  Canada


  PwrIndx: 0.4356, GFP Affiliations: North America; NATO; Apacific
13
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  Thailand


  PwrIndx: 0.4735, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Southeast; Asia
14
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  Myanmar


  PwrIndx: 0.6648, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Southeast; Asia
15
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  Peru


  PwrIndx: 0.7354, GFP Affiliations: South America; Apacific; Latin America
16
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  Malaysia


  PwrIndx: 0.7683, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Southeast; Asia
17
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  Philippines


  PwrIndx: 0.8978, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Southeast; Asia
18
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  Bangladesh


  PwrIndx: 0.9133, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Asia
19
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  Chile


  PwrIndx: 0.9417, GFP Affiliations: South America; Latin America; Apacific
20
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  Singapore


  PwrIndx: 1.0873, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Southeast; Asia
21
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  Mongolia


  PwrIndx: 1.6887, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Asia
22
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  Sri Lanka


  PwrIndx: 1.7388, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Asia
23
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  New Zealand


  PwrIndx: 1.7856, GFP Affiliations: Apacific
24
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  Nepal


  PwrIndx: 2.1669, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Asia
25
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  Cambodia


  PwrIndx: 2.2182, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Southeast; Asia
26
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  Laos


  PwrIndx: 2.6136, GFP Affiliations: Apacific; Southeast; Asia