Trend · rank 16 of 250

Diplomatic capacity under strain

More crises, specialised negotiations and overlapping forums are stretching foreign services while budgets shrink, limiting influence for nations that lack expertise, representation and continuity in international engagement.

Information & InfluenceDiplomacy & influenceinstitutionspoliticsgeoeconomics

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

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
16of 250
Sensitivity
25.8rank 7
Breadth
1of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
62.2rank 18
Eigenvector
39.5
Betweenness
51.2
Links
18trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
52.5

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
120
Over a year
+20%Rising
Over three years
+29%
Peak
14614 Jun 2026
Sources
Bothagreement -0.40
Coverage
21languages · 59 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 (21 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English45%90+0%
French7%84−1%
Russian6%98+11%
German5%104−11%
Spanish5%91+24%
Arabic4%88+10%
Persian4%92+11%
Chinese4%87−8%
Portuguese4%87+19%
Japanese3%110+13%
Indonesian2%81−10%
Polish2%87−18%
Italian2%173+89%
Turkish2%112−1%
Ukrainian1%80+12%
Vietnamese1%101+17%
Dutch1%105+5%
Hebrew1%98+20%
Swedish1%95−7%
Korean0%104+2%
Thai0%125+17%

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

United States

Sri Lanka

China

Kenya

Netherlands

Philippines

Nepal

Canada

United Kingdom

United Arab Emirates

100

66

61

54

50

50

49

44

38

34

33

32

The 12 highest of 59 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 English95−14%+5%−4%
EuropeGoogle in 7 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch, Swedish120+5%+28%+22%
ChinaGoogle in 1 country90+37%−10%−29%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 10 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai96+7%−12%−6%
South AsiaGoogle in 2 countries108−11%+12%−5%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 6 countries + Wikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew88+7%−18%−30%
AfricaGoogle in 1 country61+91%+4%−66%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 6 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese96−5%+21%−6%
Russia and EurasiaGoogle in 3 countries + Wikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian105+18%+41%−27%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
ArgentinaGoogle104−20%+29%+14%
AustraliaGoogle139−48%+128%+531%
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese91+13%+9%−14%
CanadaGoogle114−28%+26%+46%
ChinaGoogle90+37%−10%−29%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French94+24%−11%−21%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German127−4%+28%+45%
IndiaGoogle98−9%+10%−3%
IndonesiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Indonesian80+24%−36%−29%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian142+3%+62%+53%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese103+16%+5%−3%
South KoreaGoogle + Wikipedia in Korean96+24%−22%+6%
MexicoGoogle87−24%−13%−14%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian98+14%+11%−30%
Saudi ArabiaGoogle70+20%−54%−52%
TürkiyeGoogle + Wikipedia in Turkish100+11%−19%−8%
United KingdomGoogle254+71%+273%+223%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English93−13%+2%−8%

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 verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
3 · ModerateCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
3 · ModerateA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
3 · ModerateA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
3 · ModerateA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
3 · ModerateA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
3 · ModerateA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health
2 · LowHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
2 · LowTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
1 · Very lowA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
1 · Very lowA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
1 · Very lowA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
1 · Very lowA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
1 · Very lowAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
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 relatedCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
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 highMiddle-power diplomatic leverageDiplomacy & influence36
5 · Very highCredibility of external commitmentsDiplomacy & influence65
5 · Very highGlobal South coalitionsDiplomacy & influence72
5 · Very highWeakening multilateral institutionsDiplomacy & influence77
4 · HighDevelopment finance as influenceDiplomacy & influence63
3 · ModerateState capacity & deliveryState capacity & governance1
3 · ModerateRule of law & judicial independenceState capacity & governance3
3 · ModerateExecutive overreach & emergency powersState capacity & governance4
3 · ModerateCorruption & state captureState capacity & governance5
3 · ModerateDeclining institutional trustInformation & trust7
3 · ModerateRegulatory capture & lobbying powerState capacity & governance8
3 · ModeratePolarisation & populismState capacity & governance15
3 · ModerateExport controls & economic coercionTrade, industry & supply chains34
3 · ModerateTechnical standards competitionDiplomacy & influence50
3 · ModerateAlliance realignment & burden-shiftingConflict & security62
3 · ModerateResearch security & science decouplingDiplomacy & influence113
3 · ModerateAsylum & migration system strainState capacity & governance115
3 · ModerateSoft power & cultural influenceDiplomacy & influence234