Trend · rank 169 of 250

Persistent armed conflict

State-based conflicts are more numerous than at any time since 1945 and are sustained by external support and weak settlements, exposing nations to prolonged insecurity, displacement and recurrent demands on defence resources.

National SecurityConflict & securityconflictresilience

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass, where it was Armed conflict at post-war highs. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
169of 250
Sensitivity
8.3rank 140
Breadth
2of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
26.5rank 176
Eigenvector
3.3
Betweenness
8.4
Links
13trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
16.3

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
129
Over a year
+13%Rising
Over three years
+42%
Peak
2231 Mar 2026
Sources
Bothagreement 0.58
Coverage
16languages · 61 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 (16 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English66%93−7%
Russian5%137+7%
Chinese5%99−9%
French4%115+5%
German4%92−15%
Arabic3%94−1%
Spanish3%110+4%
Italian3%92−17%
Japanese2%104+9%
Turkish1%136+17%
Portuguese1%106+42%
Persian1%110+8%
Hebrew1%97+10%
Polish1%90−16%
Vietnamese0%113−11%
Ukrainian0%167+36%

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.

Singapore

South Korea

Ethiopia

Netherlands

United States

United Kingdom

Australia

China

New Zealand

Philippines

Canada

Nepal

100

91

83

74

72

59

58

58

55

53

49

49

The 12 highest of 61 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 English102−14%+9%−14%
EuropeGoogle in 6 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Polish95−37%+19%−21%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 8 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese90−30%−11%−27%
South AsiaGoogle in 2 countries99−65%+55%+3%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 3 countries + Wikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew72−29%−11%−63%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese118−32%+52%+32%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian143+12%+12%+80%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
AustraliaGoogle87−37%+4%−23%
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese117−31%+69%+21%
CanadaGoogle126−11%+103%−6%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French92−44%+38%−28%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German82−40%−8%−29%
IndiaGoogle92−73%+63%+9%
IndonesiaGoogle27−74%−41%−91%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian85−30%+4%−34%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese89−46%+8%−12%
South KoreaGoogle120+103%−22%+28%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian137+13%+7%+69%
TürkiyeGoogle + Wikipedia in Turkish93+23%+27%−51%
United KingdomGoogle205+58%+190%+75%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English99−16%+1%−15%

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
5 · Very highA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
4 · HighA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
1 · Very lowA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗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
4 · HighLong-range strike proliferationConflict & security90
4 · HighNuclear arsenal growth & proliferationConflict & security126
4 · HighPrivate military & proxy forcesConflict & security142
3 · ModerateDefence industrial base & munitionsConflict & security92
3 · ModeratePort & carrier concentrationTrade, industry & supply chains94
3 · ModerateDrone & autonomous warfareConflict & security97
3 · ModerateSubsea cable & pipeline dependenceEnergy, networks & climate resilience114
3 · ModerateContested maritime accessConflict & security117
3 · ModerateRearmament & defence spendingConflict & security136
3 · ModerateMilitarisation of spaceConflict & security166
3 · ModerateArms control erosionConflict & security174
3 · ModerateOrganised crime & illicit economiesConflict & security182
3 · ModerateTerrorism & violent extremismConflict & security240