Comprehensive National Power (CNP;Chinese:综合国力,pinyin:zōnghé guólì) is a measure of the generalpower of anation-state. It is a putative measure, important in the contemporary political thought of thePeople's Republic of China from the 1980s onwards and first introduced into official documents in 1992.[1][2]
CNP can be calculated numerically by combining various quantitative indices to create a single number held to measure the power of a nation-state.[3] These indices take into account military, political, economic and cultural factors.[4][5]
A 1995 definition of CNP refers to it as "the totality of a country's economic, military and political power in a given period. It signals the country's comprehensive development level and its position in the international system."[2]
Michael Porter lists five major resources, that is, physical, human, infrastructure, knowledge and capital resources. Accordingly, the national strategic resources are divided into eight categories, with 23 indictors.[10] Those categories constitute CNP:[11]
A fairly simplistic and effective index was developed by Chin-Lung Chang. It uses critical mass, economic capacity and military capacity. Due to its indicators, it is often repeatable and easy to define, making it comparable to theHuman Development Index in understanding and reliability.[12]
