Trend · rank 136 of 250

Rearmament & defence spending

Military budgets and stockpile rebuilding are rising across NATO, Asia and the Gulf, competing with other public spending and making capability choices and spending efficiency more important to national defence.

National SecurityConflict & securitydefencedebt finance

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

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
136of 250
Sensitivity
9.2rank 122
Breadth
1of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
39.0rank 101
Eigenvector
5.6
Betweenness
0.1
Links
20trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
19.3

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
98
Over a year
−5%Steady
Over three years
+30%
Peak
2332 Mar 2025
Sources
Bothagreement 0.70
Coverage
10languages · 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 (10 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English64%85−11%
German11%112+48%
Russian6%78−20%
French6%82−12%
Spanish4%79−4%
Japanese3%93−11%
Chinese2%127+5%
Arabic2%96+5%
Persian1%104+5%
Turkish0%142+85%

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

Estonia

United Kingdom

Canada

South Korea

Netherlands

Lithuania

Ireland

Australia

New Zealand

Norway

100

95

87

87

80

76

69

63

57

54

48

47

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 English84−10%−4%−12%
EuropeGoogle in 5 countries + Wikipedia in German, French128+16%+71%+97%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 4 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese103−9%+3%+32%
South AsiaGoogle in 1 country105−16%+26%+41%
Gulf and Middle EastWikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish106+2%+15%+8%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Spanish79−15%−10%−35%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian78+14%−20%−40%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
AustraliaGoogle75−37%−10%+79%
BrazilGoogle79−9%−15%−43%
CanadaGoogle98−7%+35%+22%
FranceWikipedia in French82−16%−12%−19%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German108+29%+22%+44%
IndiaGoogle105−16%+26%+41%
IndonesiaGoogle95−30%+20%−7%
ItalyGoogle57−57%−41%+345%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese99−24%+11%+35%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian78+14%−20%−40%
TürkiyeWikipedia in Turkish142+22%+85%+28%
United KingdomGoogle136+11%+111%+156%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English81−11%−8%−17%

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 regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
2 · LowHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
1 · Very lowA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic 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 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 · HighDefence industrial base & munitionsConflict & security92
4 · HighMilitary logistics complexityConflict & security93
4 · HighDrone & autonomous warfareConflict & security97
4 · HighPrivate military & proxy forcesConflict & security142
4 · HighMilitarisation of spaceConflict & security166
4 · HighAI-supported military decisionsConflict & security199
3 · ModerateGreat-power competitionConflict & security28
3 · ModerateWhole-of-society resilienceConflict & security43
3 · ModerateAlliance realignment & burden-shiftingConflict & security62
3 · ModerateCritical infrastructure protectionConflict & security80
3 · ModerateContested maritime accessConflict & security117
3 · ModerateNuclear arsenal growth & proliferationConflict & security126
3 · ModerateState cyber intrusion & prepositioningConflict & security130
3 · ModerateElectromagnetic spectrum contestConflict & security152
3 · ModerateUndersea military competitionConflict & security154
3 · ModeratePersistent armed conflictConflict & security169
3 · ModerateHybrid & grey-zone coercionConflict & security173
3 · ModerateArms control erosionConflict & security174
3 · ModerateConscription & reserve mobilisationConflict & security180