Dynamics of Polycrisis 2.0

This commentary reviews fifteen continuing dynamics of the polycrisis and examines how they have changed over the past year. It argues that global instability is increasingly driven by the interaction of multiple reinforcing crises, including proliferating armed conflicts, escalating geopolitical rivalry, the breakdown of international cooperation, rising inequality, democratic backsliding, and intensifying climate disruption. The commentary highlights how these dynamics are mutually reinforcing, increasing unpredictability and amplifying risks that no single actor can control. It further emphasizes growing incoherence in policymaking, declining social learning, and the normalization of conflict and coercion.