The United Nations’ Global Risk Report 2026 examines how perceptions of global risks have shifted since 2024, drawing on a survey of 1,300 stakeholders worldwide. The report finds that political risks have moved to the centre of the risk landscape, with large-scale war and geopolitical tensions among the most important, imminent, and interconnected threats, while
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The authors review six major systemic risks facing modern societies: geopolitical risks, global meteorological disaster risks, regional environmental risks, global supply chain risks, systemic financial risks, and technology-mediated societal and institutional risks. They show how these risks increasingly interact across political, economic, environmental, technological, and social systems, allowing disruptions in one domain to generate cascading
Six Major Risks in Modern Society: Research Progress and Future Directions Read More »
The July 2026 Global Risk Review identifies geopolitical escalation, climate extremes, digital misinformation, public health emergencies, and digital transformation as five key global risks. The report argues that these risks are increasingly reinforcing one another, creating a complex threat environment in which disruptions cascade across political, economic, social, and environmental systems. Through thematic analyses and
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This article argues that the Greater Horn of Africa is facing a looming polycrisis driven by the interaction of climate extremes, violent conflict, disease outbreaks, and rising food and fertiliser prices, compounded by weakening humanitarian capacity. The authors contend that these overlapping shocks are mutually reinforcing rather than additive, increasing the risk of famine, displacement,
This paper argues that the polycrisis exceeds the analytical capacity of traditional diplomatic institutions. The author contends that the ability to manage complexity has become an important source of geopolitical advantage, though the polycrisis has not replaced the older logics of expansion and dominance. The paper examines how artificial intelligence can strengthen the analytical and
This report examines the evolving impact of digital technologies on European democracy, arguing that platforms algorithmically privilege negative and conflictual content, fragmenting shared reality into what the authors term a “fantasy-industrial complex,” while foreign control of dominant digital infrastructure exposes democratic discourse to direct and indirect interference. The report presents recommendations from fostering alternative public
The author argues that a new polycrisis is emerging at the intersection of climate change and cybersecurity, as extreme weather, natural disasters, and cyberattacks increasingly occur simultaneously and amplify one another. Focusing on Asia and the Pacific, the article shows how climate-driven disruptions to critical infrastructure create openings for cybercrime, particularly during moments of emergency
How Do We Navigate Asia-Pacific’s Climate-Cyber Polycrisis? Read More »
This article explores how open science, artificial intelligence, geoinformatics, virtual reality, and augmented reality offer a transformative approach to addressing complex polycrisis challenges. Using a multifaceted methodology that includes a structured review, technology convergence assessment, and semantic network analysis, the authors examine how these technologies can contribute to resilient and adaptive solutions while identifying current
Development of Technology Convergence Assessment Framework for Polycrisis Read More »
This statement from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists sets the Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been, signaling an intensifying risk of global catastrophe. It highlights the convergence of escalating threats, including nuclear conflict, climate change, biotechnology risks, and unregulated artificial intelligence, all compounded by rising nationalism, autocracy,
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The Global Risks Report 2026 explores how a new competitive world order is reshaping global risks across domains. Over the next two years, geoeconomic confrontation is identified as the most severe risk, with economic and societal instability also rising sharply. Over a ten-year horizon, inequality emerges as the most interconnected long-term risk, while artificial intelligence shows the
Global Risks Report 2026: Geopolitical and Economic Risks Rise in New Age of Competition Read More »
