Trend · rank 142 of 250

Private military & proxy forces

States are making greater use of contractors, militias and proxies to extend influence deniably and off budget, complicating attribution and accountability and requiring nations to understand fragmented command structures and loyalties.

National SecurityConflict & securityconflictdefence

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

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
142of 250
Sensitivity
6.7rank 177
Breadth
1of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
41.2rank 80
Eigenvector
6.1
Betweenness
4.6
Links
20trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
19.0

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
85
Over a year
−4%Steady
Over three years
−25%
Peak
16928 Jul 2024
Sources
Bothagreement -0.04
Coverage
21languages · 63 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
English50%104+5%
Russian17%103+5%
German5%93−5%
Spanish5%99−2%
French4%98−4%
Japanese3%114+23%
Persian3%110+5%
Chinese2%99+7%
Arabic2%138+34%
Italian2%102−4%
Polish2%114+5%
Portuguese1%95−6%
Turkish1%129+35%
Hebrew1%81+26%
Ukrainian1%131+5%
Indonesian1%112+12%
Dutch0%105−19%
Swedish0%80−10%
Vietnamese0%115+5%
Thai0%100−26%
Korean0%144+39%

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

Singapore

Canada

United Kingdom

Australia

New Zealand

Philippines

Finland

Ireland

Norway

Iraq

Netherlands

100

79

78

66

64

62

59

58

58

58

57

55

The 12 highest of 63 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 English93+13%−2%−24%
EuropeGoogle in 7 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch, Swedish86−5%−23%−23%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 6 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai101+3%−4%+3%
South AsiaGoogle in 1 country158+69%+63%+50%
Gulf and Middle EastWikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew117+13%+23%+12%
AfricaGoogle in 1 country50−26%−14%−63%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese93+6%−5%−29%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian107−3%+5%+17%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
AustraliaGoogle80+23%−25%−44%
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese86+15%−15%−47%
CanadaGoogle85+21%−24%−34%
FranceWikipedia in French98+0%−5%−8%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German84+13%−22%−31%
IndiaGoogle158+69%+63%+50%
IndonesiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Indonesian103−2%−8%−7%
ItalyWikipedia in Italian102−14%−4%+15%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese104+12%+16%+5%
South KoreaGoogle + Wikipedia in Korean121+22%+31%+49%
MexicoGoogle102−14%+23%−17%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian103−5%+5%+7%
South AfricaGoogle50−26%−14%−63%
TürkiyeWikipedia in Turkish129−2%+35%+75%
United KingdomGoogle63−6%−44%−56%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English92+14%+2%−26%

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 · ModerateA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
1 · Very lowHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical 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 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 relatedA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
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 highLong-range strike proliferationConflict & security90
5 · Very highDrone & autonomous warfareConflict & security97
5 · Very highNuclear arsenal growth & proliferationConflict & security126
4 · HighMilitary logistics complexityConflict & security93
4 · HighContested maritime accessConflict & security117
4 · HighRearmament & defence spendingConflict & security136
4 · HighElectromagnetic spectrum contestConflict & security152
4 · HighUndersea military competitionConflict & security154
4 · HighMilitarisation of spaceConflict & security166
4 · HighPersistent armed conflictConflict & security169
4 · HighArms control erosionConflict & security174
3 · ModerateGreat-power competitionConflict & security28
3 · ModerateAlliance realignment & burden-shiftingConflict & security62
3 · ModerateDefence industrial base & munitionsConflict & security92
3 · ModerateState cyber intrusion & prepositioningConflict & security130
3 · ModerateHybrid & grey-zone coercionConflict & security173
3 · ModerateConscription & reserve mobilisationConflict & security180
3 · ModerateOrganised crime & illicit economiesConflict & security182
3 · ModerateAI-supported military decisionsConflict & security199
3 · ModerateTerrorism & violent extremismConflict & security240