Trend · rank 77 of 250

Weakening multilateral institutions

The authority and funding of the UN system, the WTO and the international financial institutions are declining, moving influence to smaller ad hoc groupings and requiring nations to negotiate across competing forums.

Information & InfluenceDiplomacy & influenceinstitutionsgeoeconomicspolitics

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

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
77of 250
Sensitivity
11.7rank 78
Breadth
0of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
43.9rank 70
Eigenvector
29.4
Betweenness
8.4
Links
13trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
26.7

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
−18%Easing
Over three years
+8%
Peak
1954 Jan 2026
Sources
Bothagreement 0.63
Coverage
10languages · 60 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
English65%83−22%
French7%66−32%
Russian6%109−19%
German6%74−26%
Chinese5%113+3%
Spanish4%92−19%
Japanese3%89−19%
Italian2%88−28%
Portuguese1%150+16%
Indonesian1%63−60%

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

China

Ethiopia

Kenya

United States

Philippines

Switzerland

Canada

South Africa

South Korea

Australia

Ireland

100

90

75

70

65

60

60

50

45

45

40

40

The 12 highest of 60 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 English83−6%−13%−24%
EuropeGoogle in 3 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian82−25%+21%−24%
Indo-PacificWikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian93+2%−23%−9%
South AsiaGoogle in 1 country112+44%−18%−3%
Latin America and CaribbeanWikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese116+14%−3%+7%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian109−25%−19%+3%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
BrazilWikipedia in Portuguese150+41%+16%+8%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French49−51%−10%−62%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German78−26%+11%−25%
IndiaGoogle112+44%−18%−3%
IndonesiaWikipedia in Indonesian63−39%−60%−23%
ItalyWikipedia in Italian88−4%−28%−24%
JapanWikipedia in Japanese89+7%−19%−22%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian109−25%−19%+3%
United KingdomGoogle1610%+242%+99%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English83−6%−13%−24%

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
3 · ModerateA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
2 · LowCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
2 · LowA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
2 · LowA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health
1 · Very lowA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
1 · Very lowTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
1 · Very lowA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
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 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 highCredibility of external commitmentsDiplomacy & influence65
5 · Very highGlobal South coalitionsDiplomacy & influence72
4 · HighDevelopment finance as influenceDiplomacy & influence63
3 · ModerateRule of law & judicial independenceState capacity & governance3
3 · ModerateCorruption & state captureState capacity & governance5
3 · ModerateDeclining institutional trustInformation & trust7
3 · ModerateRegulatory capture & lobbying powerState capacity & governance8
3 · ModeratePolarisation & populismState capacity & governance15
3 · ModerateTechnical standards competitionDiplomacy & influence50
3 · ModerateResearch security & science decouplingDiplomacy & influence113
3 · ModerateSoft power & cultural influenceDiplomacy & influence234