A Measure of Country Power: 1500-1945 AD.

This paper presents a measure of country power, defined in terms of capabilities, that extends back to 1500 AD for 10 countries. The measure consists of seven components, four defining military power and three defining economic power. The goal of this effort has been to create a measure of power that is at least equal if not superior to existing measures in two dimensions: the span of time encompassed and the breadth of the components of power included. The paper provides a justification for the effort, a description of the components of the measure and the data sources used, and the power trajectories that result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]