HEAD TO HEAD
Russia vs United States
Verdict
United States holds a 72–28 advantage over Russia on the Relative Advantage Index, a decisive margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (83% of the combined total, $954bn) and economic size (GDP) (93% of the combined total, $28.8tn). Russia leads on nuclear warheads.
Factor by factor
| Factor | Russia | Share | United States | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $190bn | 17%83% | $954bn | 25% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $2.2tn | 7%93% | $28.8tn | 20% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 1.2m | 47%53% | 1.4m | 15% |
Nuclear warheads FAS Nuclear Notebook | 5.5k | 51%49% | 5.2k | 25% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 307 | 16%84% | 1.6k | 15% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-10-22.
