Force structure, readiness, power projection, and deterrence: the Bureau’s strategic assessment of Cook Islands’s military capability — scored 0–100 across 24 causal dimensions.
Cook Islands carries no military score in the Bureau’s v10 assessment (195 scored states). This is generally a territory without standing armed forces of its own — defense resting with the administering state — or with insufficient data for an honest assessment. Rather than invent a score, the Bureau withholds one.
Missing data is never treated as zero: no score is shown where observation is impossible.
Air power could not be observed in this assessment — missing data caps the score, it is never treated as zero.
Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.
Land warfare could not be observed in this assessment — missing data caps the score, it is never treated as zero.
Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.
Naval power could not be observed in this assessment — missing data caps the score, it is never treated as zero.
Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.
Missile forces could not be observed in this assessment — missing data caps the score, it is never treated as zero.
Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.
Status: —
Nuclear deterrence: not observed
Nuclear survivability: not observed
no regular military forces; Cook Islands Police Service
defense is the responsibility of New Zealand in consultation with the Cook Islands and at its request the Cook Islands have a "shiprider" agreement with the US, which allows local maritime law enforcement officers to embark on US Coast Guard (USCG) and US Navy (USN) vessels, including to board and search vessels suspected of violating laws or regulations within its designated exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or on the high seas; "shiprider" agreements also enable USCG personnel and USN vessels with embarked USCG law enforcement personnel to work with host nations to protect critical regional resources (2025)
