Trend · rank 65 of 250

Credibility of external commitments

Greater domestic contestation of treaties, alliances and aid pledges is making partners less certain that commitments will outlast a change of government, raising the diplomatic cost of promises that lack durable political support.

Information & InfluenceDiplomacy & influencepoliticsgeoeconomicsinstitutions

Second pass: Added in the second pass. Held by two of the three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
65of 250
Sensitivity
13.3rank 59
Breadth
1of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
45.4rank 62
Eigenvector
15.5
Betweenness
14.9
Links
14trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
28.3

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
122
Over a year
−9%Steady
Over three years
+97%
Peak
45417 Aug 2025
Sources
Bothagreement 0.41
Coverage
6languages · 53 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 (6 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English69%85+2%
Russian24%71−28%
French3%76−22%
Spanish2%93+4%
Portuguese1%93−26%
Arabic1%94+3%

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 States

Kenya

Netherlands

South Korea

United Kingdom

Canada

Ireland

Norway

Philippines

Switzerland

Australia

100

100

89

89

89

75

61

50

50

50

50

36

The 12 highest of 53 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 1 country + Wikipedia in English88−29%−23%+28%
EuropeGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in French63−37%−37%−24%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 2 countries75−8%−21%−38%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Arabic92−10%+3%−22%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese76+2%−35%−15%
Russia and EurasiaGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Russian37−37%−57%−61%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese76+13%−40%−18%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French61−41%−22%−43%
GermanyGoogle53−20%−62%−16%
IndonesiaGoogle54−37%−41%−52%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian71−7%−28%−28%
TürkiyeGoogle89+22%+3%−15%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English88−29%−23%+28%

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
4 · HighA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
3 · ModerateA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
3 · ModerateA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
2 · LowCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
2 · LowA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
1 · Very lowA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
1 · Very lowA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health
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 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

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 highDiplomatic capacity under strainDiplomacy & influence16
5 · Very highMiddle-power diplomatic leverageDiplomacy & influence36
5 · Very highWeakening multilateral institutionsDiplomacy & influence77
4 · HighDevelopment finance as influenceDiplomacy & influence63
4 · HighGlobal South coalitionsDiplomacy & influence72
3 · ModerateRule of law & judicial independenceState capacity & governance3
3 · ModerateExport controls & economic coercionTrade, industry & supply chains34
3 · ModerateEconomic security policyTrade, industry & supply chains47
3 · ModerateTechnical standards competitionDiplomacy & influence50
3 · ModerateTariff barrier normalisationTrade, industry & supply chains58
3 · ModerateAlliance realignment & burden-shiftingConflict & security62
3 · ModerateResearch security & science decouplingDiplomacy & influence113
3 · ModerateInternational student flowsDiplomacy & influence227
3 · ModerateSoft power & cultural influenceDiplomacy & influence234