Trend · rank 28 of 250

Great-power competition

Rivalry between the United States and China, and between Russia and the West, is intensifying across security, technology and trade, making national security depend on deterrence, alignment choices and managing prolonged confrontation.

National SecurityConflict & securitygeoeconomicsdefenceconflict

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

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
28of 250
Sensitivity
23.3rank 13
Breadth
2of 20 scenarios High or above, 2 Critical
PageRank
45.2rank 63
Eigenvector
4.8
Betweenness
37.6
Links
19trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
39.3

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.

Share of attention
0.13%rank 168 of 250 · a year earlier 0.12%
Now
98
Over a year
+14%Rising
Over three years
+3%
Peak
1691 Mar 2026
Sources
Bothagreement 0.09
Coverage
19languages · 55 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 (19 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English50%100+4%
Chinese10%88−4%
Russian9%103+3%
Spanish7%103+21%
Japanese5%113+39%
French5%100+1%
German3%113+10%
Italian3%99−34%
Portuguese2%84−4%
Persian1%139+10%
Arabic1%77−32%
Korean1%169+69%
Ukrainian1%101−12%
Turkish1%120+31%
Dutch0%129+59%
Thai0%146+57%
Vietnamese0%101+20%
Hebrew0%81−41%
Indonesian0%133+4%

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.

The 12 highest of 55 nations with a reading. All countries (CSV).

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 English84−11%+11%−7%
EuropeGoogle in 5 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Dutch122−3%+28%+20%
ChinaGoogle in 1 country67+12%+7%−61%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 5 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai111+7%+14%+1%
South AsiaGoogle in 1 country101−26%+15%−5%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew930%0%−15%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 5 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese81−27%−8%−37%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian103−11%0%−2%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
ArgentinaGoogle67−59%−22%−76%
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese80−11%−16%−26%
ChinaGoogle67+12%+7%−61%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French98−18%0%+4%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German89−13%−10%−23%
IndiaGoogle101−26%+15%−5%
IndonesiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Indonesian106−3%+3%−17%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian132−25%+18%+40%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese149+40%+66%+67%
South KoreaGoogle + Wikipedia in Korean151+16%+4%+130%
MexicoGoogle78−28%+4%−43%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian103−9%+3%−2%
TürkiyeGoogle + Wikipedia in Turkish99+7%+23%−12%
United KingdomGoogle263+121%+761%+147%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English84−11%+11%−7%

Share of attention by region

GINC Share of Attention: this trend's share of all the public attention the trends in the list draw, worldwide and in each region, week by week (a 4-week average). Each place is read from the Wikipedia languages mostly read there and Google searching in its countries; where a place's language is shared with others, as English is, Google stands alone.

PlaceShare, last 13 weeksRank thereA year earlierRead from
World0.13%168 of 2500.12%Wikipedia reading in all 28 languages, and Google searching worldwide
Asia Pacific0.29%103 of 2500.20%Wikipedia reading in the region's own languages, not English; Google searching in 15 countries, not China
Europe0.28%84 of 2500.25%German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch and Swedish reading; Google searching in 10 countries, the UK among them
Africa0.01%245 of 2500.01%Google searching in 7 countries; Afrikaans and Swahili reading reaches too few trends to count
South America0.31%91 of 2500.43%Spanish and Portuguese reading, Spanish also read in Spain; Google searching in 5 countries
North America0.03%220 of 2490.07%Google searching in the United States, Canada and Mexico; English reading cannot be split by country
Oceania0.01%229 of 2490.01%Google searching in Australia and New Zealand; English reading cannot be split by country
United States0.02%227 of 2490.02%Google searching; English reading cannot be split by country
United Kingdom0.01%228 of 2490.01%Google searching; English reading cannot be split by country
India0.00%234 of 2490.00%Google searching; Hindi, Bengali and Tamil reading reaches too few trends to count, and English cannot be split by country
China···Wikipedia and Google are blocked in China; no open source counts reading there
Russia1.1%20 of 2031.2%Russian reading, which is also done across the former Soviet states; Google's figures for Russia cannot be bought
Japan0.64%46 of 2500.35%Japanese reading and Google searching
Germany0.29%88 of 2500.16%German reading and Google searching
France0.26%93 of 2500.46%French reading, also done in Africa and Canada, and Google searching
Italy0.87%22 of 2500.34%Italian reading and Google searching
South Korea0.29%93 of 2500.25%Korean reading and Google searching
Indonesia0.01%232 of 2500.01%Google searching; Indonesian reading reaches too few trends to count
Brazil0.30%87 of 2500.18%Portuguese reading and Google searching
Türkiye0.00%232 of 2500.00%Google searching; Turkish reading reaches too few trends to count

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
6 · CriticalCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
6 · CriticalA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
3 · ModerateA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
3 · ModerateHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
3 · ModerateA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
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 · LowAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
1 · Very lowA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic 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 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 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 · HighAlliance realignment & burden-shiftingConflict & security62
4 · HighLong-range strike proliferationConflict & security90
3 · ModerateIndustrial policy competitionTrade, industry & supply chains26
3 · ModerateExport controls & economic coercionTrade, industry & supply chains34
3 · ModerateTrade & investment fragmentationTrade, industry & supply chains37
3 · ModerateTechnical standards competitionDiplomacy & influence50
3 · ModerateDefence industrial base & munitionsConflict & security92
3 · ModerateMilitary logistics complexityConflict & security93
3 · ModerateDrone & autonomous warfareConflict & security97
3 · ModerateNuclear arsenal growth & proliferationConflict & security126
3 · ModerateState cyber intrusion & prepositioningConflict & security130
3 · ModerateRearmament & defence spendingConflict & security136
3 · ModeratePrivate military & proxy forcesConflict & security142
3 · ModerateElectromagnetic spectrum contestConflict & security152
3 · ModerateUndersea military competitionConflict & security154
3 · ModerateMilitarisation of spaceConflict & security166
3 · ModerateHybrid & grey-zone coercionConflict & security173
3 · ModerateArms control erosionConflict & security174
3 · ModerateEspionage & insider threatConflict & security201