Trend · rank 174 of 250

Arms control erosion

Treaties and verification regimes for nuclear, conventional and emerging weapons are lapsing without replacement, reducing predictability and raising national requirements for monitoring, deterrence and crisis management.

National SecurityConflict & securitydefenceinstitutionsconflict

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass unchanged. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
174of 250
Sensitivity
5.0rank 207
Breadth
0of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
36.9rank 112
Eigenvector
5.7
Betweenness
2.5
Links
20trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
16.0

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
83
Over a year
−10%Steady
Over three years
−12%
Peak
1961 Jun 2025
Sources
Bothagreement -0.15
Coverage
15languages · 42 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (15 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English52%84−11%
Russian17%101−9%
German7%81−6%
Japanese4%87−13%
French4%94−2%
Chinese3%105−9%
Italian3%70−42%
Spanish3%108+8%
Persian2%111−35%
Polish1%95−21%
Ukrainian1%101−32%
Arabic1%122−11%
Dutch1%58−26%
Portuguese0%82+1%
Korean0%105−10%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

United States

Australia

Canada

New Zealand

South Africa

United Kingdom

Singapore

South Korea

United Arab Emirates

Ireland

Pakistan

Netherlands

100

72

48

41

31

21

17

16

16

13

12

10

The 12 highest of 42 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English98+26%+1%−9%
EuropeGoogle in 4 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch94−3%−5%−4%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 3 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Korean106+2%+22%+13%
South AsiaGoogle in 1 country96−17%+20%+11%
Gulf and Middle EastWikipedia in Persian, Arabic115−11%−27%+86%
AfricaGoogle in 1 country133+26%+17%+25%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 4 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese103−11%+19%+17%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian101+9%−15%−4%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
AustraliaGoogle116+67%−5%+15%
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese107−21%+43%+30%
CanadaGoogle127+50%−3%+31%
FranceWikipedia in French94−8%−2%−20%
GermanyWikipedia in German81−18%−6%−29%
IndiaGoogle96−17%+20%+11%
IndonesiaGoogle139+16%+78%+78%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian96−1%−7%+3%
JapanWikipedia in Japanese87+1%−13%−26%
South KoreaGoogle + Wikipedia in Korean86−18%+48%−6%
MexicoGoogle99−23%−5%+21%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian101+9%−10%−10%
South AfricaGoogle133+26%+17%+25%
United KingdomGoogle78−17%−32%−14%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English96+26%+4%−13%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
2 · LowA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health
0 · Not relatedA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
5 · Very highNuclear arsenal growth & proliferationConflict & security126
4 · HighLong-range strike proliferationConflict & security90
4 · HighDrone & autonomous warfareConflict & security97
4 · HighPrivate military & proxy forcesConflict & security142
4 · HighMilitarisation of spaceConflict & security166
3 · ModerateGreat-power competitionConflict & security28
3 · ModerateAlliance realignment & burden-shiftingConflict & security62
3 · ModerateDefence industrial base & munitionsConflict & security92
3 · ModerateMilitary logistics complexityConflict & security93
3 · ModerateContested maritime accessConflict & security117
3 · ModerateState cyber intrusion & prepositioningConflict & security130
3 · ModerateRearmament & defence spendingConflict & security136
3 · ModerateElectromagnetic spectrum contestConflict & security152
3 · ModerateUndersea military competitionConflict & security154
3 · ModeratePersistent armed conflictConflict & security169
3 · ModerateConscription & reserve mobilisationConflict & security180
3 · ModerateOrganised crime & illicit economiesConflict & security182
3 · ModerateState fragility & intrastate violenceConflict & security183
3 · ModerateAI-supported military decisionsConflict & security199
3 · ModerateTerrorism & violent extremismConflict & security240