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Future roles of the United States and China
About the author
Ryan Neelam
Ryan Neelam was Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute. He led the flagship annual Lowy Institute Poll, was project director for the Global Diplomacy Index, and wrote about climate diplomacy and multilateral policy.
When it comes to global power and influence, the United States has long been the world leader, but China’s power is clearly growing. For the first time, the Lowy Institute Poll asked Australians what they think about the trajectories of US and Chinese power over the next decade.
Most Australians think China’s role will continue to grow. Six in ten (61%) believe that in ten years, China will play ‘a more important and powerful role as a world leader’. More than a quarter (28%) think China’s position will remain ‘about the same as now’, while only one in ten (10%) expect China to play a ‘less important and powerful’ role.
By comparison, close to half of Australians (45%) expect the role and influence of the United States as a world leader to stay the same as it is now, while two in ten (22%) expect the United States to become more important and powerful. One-third (32%) of Australians think the United States will play a less important and powerful role as a world leader.
