Trend · rank 117 of 250

Contested maritime access

Coercive activity is growing in disputed waters and narrow straits that carry much seaborne trade, energy and food, making national access to shipping depend on surveillance, escorts, insurers and credible sea control.

National SecurityConflict & securitydefencetradelogistics

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass, where it was Maritime chokepoint dependence; takes in Indo-Pacific maritime disputes. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
117of 250
Sensitivity
10.8rank 87
Breadth
2of 20 scenarios High or above, 1 Critical
PageRank
35.5rank 120
Eigenvector
4.4
Betweenness
8.9
Links
18trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
21.1

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
215
Over a year
+356%Surging
Over three years
+378%
Peak
72012 Apr 2026
Sources
Bothagreement 0.91
Coverage
15languages · 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 (15 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English56%96+35%
German7%136+30%
Japanese5%112+61%
Spanish5%129+109%
French5%122+62%
Chinese5%105+16%
Russian5%98+28%
Arabic4%123+10%
Portuguese2%88+41%
Turkish2%121+138%
Vietnamese1%109+79%
Korean1%179+201%
Indonesian1%129+94%
Thai0%168+101%
Malay0%91+9%

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

United Arab Emirates

Qatar

South Korea

Kuwait

New Zealand

Australia

United States

Canada

Oman

United Kingdom

Ghana

100

97

73

56

52

49

45

42

39

39

36

33

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 AmericaWikipedia in English96−35%+35%+10%
EuropeGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in German, French156−48%+214%+155%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Malay160−50%+326%+336%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Arabic, Turkish122−50%+160%+242%
Latin America and CaribbeanWikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese112−41%+81%+115%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian98−24%+28%−8%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
BrazilWikipedia in Portuguese88−39%+41%+78%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French152−49%+265%+119%
GermanyWikipedia in German136−24%+30%+150%
IndonesiaWikipedia in Indonesian129−53%+94%+440%
JapanWikipedia in Japanese112−34%+61%+64%
South KoreaWikipedia in Korean180+3%+201%+112%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian98−24%+28%−8%
TürkiyeGoogle + Wikipedia in Turkish121−51%+340%+234%
United StatesWikipedia in English96−35%+35%+10%

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
6 · CriticalA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
5 · Very highA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
2 · 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 · HighDefence industrial base & munitionsConflict & security92
4 · HighMilitary logistics complexityConflict & security93
4 · HighPrivate military & proxy forcesConflict & security142
3 · ModerateTrade corridor competitionTrade, industry & supply chains38
3 · ModerateAlliance realignment & burden-shiftingConflict & security62
3 · ModerateLong-range strike proliferationConflict & security90
3 · ModeratePort & carrier concentrationTrade, industry & supply chains94
3 · ModerateDrone & autonomous warfareConflict & security97
3 · ModerateNuclear arsenal growth & proliferationConflict & security126
3 · ModerateRearmament & defence spendingConflict & security136
3 · ModerateSanctions circumvention networksTrade, industry & supply chains140
3 · ModerateElectromagnetic spectrum contestConflict & security152
3 · ModerateUndersea military competitionConflict & security154
3 · ModerateMilitarisation of spaceConflict & security166
3 · ModeratePersistent armed conflictConflict & security169
3 · ModerateArms control erosionConflict & security174
3 · ModerateConscription & reserve mobilisationConflict & security180
3 · ModerateAI-supported military decisionsConflict & security199