Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been labelled the "most incompetent leader of any industrialised democracy" by the Council on Foreign Relations — a US think tank made up of the country's political and business elite.

In a blog piece that was posted on the council's website before Monday's Liberal leadership spill titled "Tony Abbott Has To Go", Abbott was described as "shockingly incompetent" and said he deserved to be given the boot.

"Abbott has proven so incapable of clear policy thinking, so unwilling to consult with even his own ministers and advisers, and so poor at communicating that he has to go," wrote Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior fellow at the Council and a specialist on the politics of South-East Asia.

Abbott's best slips and gaffes View Gallery

"Abbott's policies have been all over the map, and the lack of coherence has often made the prime minister seem ill-informed and incapable of understanding complex policy issues," the paper stated.

Kurlantzick said the PM delivered "mixed public messages about some of the health care reforms that were at the centre of his agenda and sometimes has seemed unsure himself of what health legislation has actually been passed on his watch".

Abbott was chastised for being an "unsure" promise breaker for making cuts to the ABC and for appearing "completely baffled on climate change issues at the G20 summit in Australia last year".

The paper said Abbott tended to work unilaterally and his failure to consult with his ministers before making decisions made it increasingly difficult for the government to pass reforms.

Kurlantzick laid a heavy blow to Abbott's credibility, describing him as having "one of the worst senses of public relations of any prime minister in recent Australian history".

"I take no position on whether a left or right coalition can govern Australia better — whether Australia needs a revolt from within the ruling coalition or a national election victory by the left," the paper stated in its conclusion.

"But a country that for decades has punched above its weight on nearly every international issue surely can do much better for a prime minister than Tony Abbott".

The position paper is a scathing judgement from the CFR which was established in 1921 with the aim of pushing American interests throughout the globe which in its modern context includes neo-liberal economics and globalisation.

The council is made of men and women from the upper echelons of American politics, diplomacy, industry and the media.