U.S. policymakers should work with allies, particularly those in Southeast Asia, to counter Beijing’s growing geopolitical clout, according to a recent report. The 38-page report, titled “China-US Competition: Measuring Global influence,” compared quantifiable factors between the two countries across economic, political, and security dimensions. These factors included the amounts of goods traded and arms transferred, as well as shared intergovernmental organization membership. Then, an index was tabulated to describe how much influence China and the United States have over other countries for the period from 1960 to 2020. In 1992, Beijing had more influence in 33 countries, compared to the United States in 160 countries, according to the report. Then, for three successive U.S. administrations—under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama—the total number of countries open to U.S. influence dropped, before the sliding trend was reversed under former President Donald Trump, despite Trump’s well-publicized withdrawals from a …