Panel discussion: Hervé Lemahieu and Bonnie Bley on mapping power in Asia(Canberra)

Summary: Global wealth and power are shifting eastwards, changing the way the region – and indeed the world – works politically and strategically. Lowy Institute Program Director Hervé Lemahieu, the principal researcher behind the Asia Power Index, and Bonnie Bley, Research Fellow, gave a visual and analytical presentation of the changing distribution of power in Asia. The event marked the Australian launch of the 2019 Lowy Institute Asia Power Index, the largest study of power in the region ever undertaken. Find out how countries in the region perform in terms of what they have, and what they do with what they have. This was followed by a discussion of the Index’s findings and their implications for the changing political economy, military balance, and diplomatic networks of Asia. About the 2019 Asia Power Index: The annual Lowy Institute Asia Power Index evaluates 25 countries and territories across 126 indicators divided into eight thematic measures of power: military capability and defence networks, economic resources and relationships, diplomatic and cultural influence, as well as resilience and future resources. The Index is made available through a specially designed digital platform, at power.lowyinstitute.org. Hervé Lemahieu is Director of the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute. Hervé leads the research for the annual Asia Power Index – launched by the Institute in 2018 – and developed the project methodology to map the changing distribution of power in the region. Hervé joined Lowy from the International Institute for Strategic Studies and was previously a consultant at Oxford Analytica. Hervé has an MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy from the University of Oxford, and an MA with first-class honours in International Relations and Modern History from the University of St Andrews. Bonnie Bley is a Research Fellow for the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute and one of the principal researchers behind the Asia Power Index. Bonnie also leads the research on the Global Diplomacy Index, a digital project which maps the diplomatic networks of 60 countries. Bonnie joined the Institute from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), and studied at University College London (UCL) and the University of Bologna.