print

National power of modern states:
conceptualization, operationalization, methods of analysis, and rating

Melville A.Yu.,

HSE University, Moscow, Russia, amelville@hse.ru

elibrary_id: 251142 | ORCID: 0000-0002-1414-5783 | RESEARCHER_ID: B-1152-2014

Kabernik V.V.,

MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia, vic@inno.mgimo.ru

elibrary_id: 841275 | RESEARCHER_ID: I-9388-2014

Mironyuk M.G.,

HSE University, Moscow, Russia, mmironyuk@hse.ru

elibrary_id: 251177 | ORCID: 0000-0002-8183-3084 | RESEARCHER_ID: K-9102-2015

Sedashov E.A.,

HSE University, Moscow, Russia, esedashov@hse.ru

elibrary_id: 666526 | ORCID: 0000-0002-1022-6375 |

Stukal D.K.,

HSE University, Moscow, Russia, dstukal@hse.ru

elibrary_id: 1096522 | ORCID: 0000-0001-6240-5714 | RESEARCHER_ID: ABA-3314-2020

Article received: 2025.04.14 22:32. Accepted: 2025.07.02 22:32


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2025.05.07
EDN: VAPRNV

Rubric: Theme of the issue: Contours of the future in the optics of political science

For citation:

Melville A.Yu., Kabernik V.V., Mironyuk M.G., Sedashov E.A., Stukal D.K. National power of modern states: conceptualization, operationalization, methods of analysis, and rating. – Polis. Political Studies. 2025. No. 5. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2025.05.07. EDN: VAPRNV

The article was prepared within the framework of the grant for the implementation of the program of strategic academic leadership “Priority 2030”. Authors express their gratitude to Dr. Alexey Gromyko, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Ivan Timofeev, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), for valuable comments.

Abstract

This article develops an understanding of various aspects of the concept of national power in political science and international studies. National power is understood primarily as a measurable ability of an actor to influence the behavior of other actors in politics. This influence can be exercised though various means. Authors continue the research initiated at MGIMO and continued at the Higher School of Economics, including the research within the framework of a consortium of these two universities for the joint implementation of the research project “Political Atlas of the Modern World 2.0”. The authors focus on the dynamics of national power of modern states in a comparative perspective for 1992-2020. A conceptualization of national power and operationalization of its parameters are proposed, as well as methods and tools to analyze and compare trajectories of change in the national power of states.

Keywords

national power, state, conceptualization, operationalization, index, indicator, weight coefficient, kurtosis excess, Bayesian principal component analysis, rating.

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