Geo-economic confrontation ranks as No 1 global risk in 2026, WEF report says

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026

Davos, Switzerland | 19–23 January 2026

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026 will once again transform Davos into the most powerful diplomatic, economic, technological, and strategic command center on the planet. From 19 to 23 January, the world’s top decision-makers will convene to define the global agenda for a rapidly changing world shaped by artificial intelligence, geopolitical realignment, climate pressure, demographic shifts, and technological acceleration.

This year’s meeting brings together an extraordinary concentration of global leadership — heads of state, central bankers, CEOs of the world’s largest corporations, Nobel-level scientists, innovators, and civil society leaders — all working within a single ecosystem of dialogue, negotiation, and future-building.

Geoeconomic confrontation — ranging from sanctions to tariffs — is the top threat, found the World Economic Forum (WEF)'s Global Risks Report on the eve of its annual meeting gathering the world's business and political elites, set to take place in Davos next week.

The 21st edition of the report, published on Wednesday (Jan 14), found that geo-economic confrontation moved up two spots from last year to rank as the No 1 immediate-term risk most likely to trigger a material crisis on a global scale in 2026.

The WEF study consolidates views from more than 1,300 global leaders and experts, and analyses risks over immediate, short-to-medium term (two-year) and long-term (10-year) horizons.

“In a world of rising rivalries and prolonged conflicts, confrontation threatens supply chains and broader global economic stability as well as the cooperative capacity required to address economic shocks,” the report stated.

The findings come as the global outlook remains uncertain, with half of the respondents surveyed expecting a turbulent or stormy world over the next two years, up 14 percentage points from last year. Another 40 per cent expect the two-year outlook to be unsettled. Meanwhile, only 9 per cent expect stability and 1 per cent anticipate calm. Geo-economic confrontation also placed as the most severe risk over a two-year horizon, followed by misinformation and disinformation, societal polarisation, extreme weather events and state-based armed conflict.

A New Era of Global Cooperation or Confrontation?

10-year horizon

Extreme weather events rank as the No 1 risk over the long-term horizon of 10 years, the report said. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse came in at second place, while critical change to earth systems claimed third position.

More than half (57 per cent) of the survey respondents expect a turbulent or stormy world over the next decade. Nearly one-third (32 per cent) expect things to be unsettled, 10 per cent predict stability and 1 per cent anticipate calm.

The 2026 Annual Meeting takes place at a moment of historic transformation. Global governance systems are under strain, traditional economic models are being disrupted by AI and automation, and geopolitical alliances are being redrawn. Davos has become not just a conference, but the world’s strategic negotiation table — where economic policy, digital governance, climate strategy, and security architecture are increasingly shaped.

More than 300 government leaders will participate this year, including:

• Donald J. Trump, President of the United States

• Vladimir Zelensky, President of Ukraine

• Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada

• Friedrich Merz, Chancellor of Germany

• He Lifeng, Vice-Premier of China

• Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar

• Javier Milei, President of Argentina

• Prabowo Subianto, President of Indonesia

• Alexander Stubb, President of Finland

• Daniel Francisco Chapo, President of Mozambique

They will be joined by heads of the world’s most powerful international institutions:

• António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

• Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank

• Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission

• Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary-General

• Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director

• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO Director-General

Together, these leaders will address the most urgent global challenges — economic stability, war and peace, energy transition, climate adaptation, digital governance, and the future of work.

Technology, AI and the Human Future

One of the central themes of WEF 2026 is the intersection of human intelligence and artificial intelligence — how technology will reshape health, productivity, governance, and even the human brain itself.

Among the featured speakers:

Professor Irene Tracey

Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford
Speaking on Understanding the Brain in a Digital Age, Professor Tracey will explore how brain–computer interfaces are already being used in medicine and what ethical limits societies must set to protect autonomy, identity, and human dignity.

Ricardo Hausmann

Founder, Growth Lab, Harvard University
In How Not to Tax the Future, Hausmann will address one of the most urgent dilemmas of the AI economy: how governments can design new fiscal models that support innovation while preserving fairness, competitiveness, and public trust.

The New Global Economy

The private sector remains one of the most powerful forces shaping global transformation. WEF 2026 will bring together CEOs and founders of the world’s most influential corporations, including:

• Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft

• Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce

• Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA

• Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir

• Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Group

• Bettina Orlopp, CEO of Commerzbank

These leaders will discuss how AI, climate technologies, cybersecurity, fintech, and digital infrastructure will define the next phase of global growth.

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Sports, Culture and Soft Power

Global influence today is not built only through politics and economics. Culture, media, and sport have become powerful engines of diplomacy and capital flows.

Erica Alessandri, Board Member of Technogym, will speak on how mega-sports events and the global fitness economy are becoming economic multipliers and cultural unifiers, generating jobs, investment, and national branding.

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Davos Goes Digital

Through the World Economic Forum Digital Membership, global leaders can access selected sessions of the Davos programme in real time, giving members a front-row seat to the most important conversations shaping the world.

This opens Davos not only to those physically present in Switzerland, but to a global elite of digital decision-makers, entrepreneurs, academics, investors, and future leaders.

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Why WEF 2026 Matters

The World Economic Forum is no longer just a forum. It is the global control room of the 21st century — where technology meets diplomacy, capital meets ethics, and innovation meets governance.

At a time when the world is facing unprecedented disruption, Davos remains the place where global order is redesigned.

Those who participate in this dialogue do not merely observe history. They shape it.

Vital Voices Announces Global Leaders

Vital Voices Announces 2025 Network Engagement Awardees

Vital Voices celebrates the women who bring its global community to life. The Network Engagement Awards honour twelve extraordinary leaders who go beyond participation — they actively uplift, connect, and empower others across the Vital Voices Global Network.

In a year marked by global uncertainty and challenges for women’s organisations, these awardees stood out for their resilience, generosity, and leadership. Through conversations, mentorship, collaboration, and opportunity-sharing, they strengthened the community and proved that leadership is most powerful when it is shared.

These women demonstrate that one post, one insight, or one act of support can ripple across countries — creating real change and lasting impact.

2025 Vital Voices Network Engagement Awardees

The Silver Screen Glow: Your Ultimate Guide to the Movies That Own Christmas 2025

Plus: The Thriller Lane (for when the kids go to bed and the grown-ups want danger). 

The tree is lit. The cocoa is steaming. Someone’s already arguing about whether one more film is a reasonable idea at 11:47 p.m. And the world is obsessed with one question:

What are we watching tonight?

If the 2025 holiday season feels like a cinematic gold rush, you’re not imagining it. This year’s line-up isn’t merely “something to have on in the background.” It’s a full-blown cultural event—sequels that actually deliver, family films with real brains, and Netflix thrillers pulling tens of millions of views in a single week. Netflix

So here’s your guide: not just a list, but a holiday viewing strategy—a set of films that create conversations, spark laughter, and (when you want it) raise your pulse.

Grab the remote. Here is the pulse of Christmas 2025.

Berlin, December 15, 2025, will go down in history books as the day when Europe stopped being afraid and began to act

Towards a Just Peace: What the Berlin Joint Statement Means for Ukraine and Europe

On 15 December 2025, Europe’s political centre of gravity shifted to Berlin. There, a remarkable line-up of European leaders – including Chancellor Merz, Presidents Stubb, Macron, Costa, President von der Leyen, and Prime Ministers Kristersson, Frederiksen, Meloni, Schoof, Støre, Tusk and Starmer – issued a joint statement on Ukraine that could define the next phase of the war and the continent’s security architecture for decades to come.

At the heart of the declaration is a clear message: Ukraine’s security, sovereignty and prosperity are not only a moral imperative, but a core interest of Euro-Atlantic security. And for the first time, the United States and Europe are publicly aligning around a single framework for a just and lasting peace, centred on President Trump’s proposed plan and President Zelenskyy’s leadership.

A New Phase in the War – and in Diplomacy

Andrii Azarov. How to get through a crisis with minimal losses and build a crisis-resilient business

Andrii Azarov, Founder of the GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE international consortium (global-alliance.biz), entrepreneur with 35 years of experience, managing 40+ companies, organisations and projects; Chairman of the Higher Council of the European Association of Business Development.

Why the world keeps entering “new crises”

Over the last decade, the global economy has been living in a near-permanent stress test: financial shocks, political turbulence, economic downturns, pandemics, supply-chain disruptions, currency volatility, constant wars, energy price swings, high inflation and rising interest rates. These crises look different on the surface, but inside the business they trigger the same chain reaction: 

• demand falls or becomes unpredictable
• costs rise (or cash flow collapses)
• credit tightens
• partners break commitments
• the workforce becomes anxious
• decision-making speed becomes more valuable than “perfect plans” 

The anti-crisis methods are largely the same, regardless of whether the trigger is a pandemic, a financial crisis, a political crisis or a broader economic recession: protect liquidity, stabilise operations, renegotiate obligations, reduce complexity, pivot to what is in demand, and build partnerships that increase resilience.

Practical advice for the future (from my 35-year playbook)

If you want your company to survive not just one crisis, but many, treat resilience as a management system:

1. Build a cash buffer as a strategic asset, not “unused money”.

2. Keep your business model modular: products, teams, suppliers and channels should be easy to scale down and rebuild.

3. Diversify revenue streams: at least 2–3 independent sources, ideally in different customer segments or geographies.

4. Make “remote-first readiness” a standard (sales, service delivery, support, HR, finance).

5. Run scenario planning quarterly: base case, stress case, and worst case; with pre-approved actions for each.

6. Treat partnerships, clusters and consortia as an instrument of survival and growth, not just “networking”.

My recommendations for entrepreneurs for the first month of a crisis (and the months after)

First actions: Days 1–30

1. Freeze all non-essential payments for 2–4 weeks (preserve liquidity; prioritise only critical operations and statutory obligations).

2. Cancel all promotional campaigns that do not produce immediate, measurable cash flow.

3. Negotiate with your landlord to pause rent, reduce it temporarily, or switch to turnover-based rent.

4. Keep only a strategic core team to maintain operations and to develop new online products and services.

5. Create online services for your business (remote sales, online delivery, digital support, subscriptions).

6. Adapt to the first month with fewer clients: prepare for a temporary “zero demand” scenario.

7. Build a strategic cash reserve (cash runway is your oxygen).

8. Do not rush to buy foreign currency. Monitor the Central Bank’s interventions in the FX market.

9. Track official Central Bank bulletins about gold and foreign exchange reserves and FX market behaviour.

10. Rent a bank safe-deposit box. Keeping large sums at home is unsafe.

11. Pause deals that were already started (especially those that consume cash and are not mission-critical).

12. Take a wait-and-see position until you understand the new rules of the market.

13. Agree with the team (core group) on temporary pay terms at 20–50% of pre-crisis salaries depending on role criticality, only by mutual agreement and in compliance with employment law.

14. Give your employees a guarantee: if trouble comes, they can rely on you within your capacity.

15. Agree on safety rules and crisis protocols. Isolate staff for the maximum realistic period (e.g., 4–12 weeks during lockdown-style disruptions).

16. Support the team to the extent you can, at the minimum necessary level for normal living.

17. Remove ballast: cut roles, costs and projects that do not support survival or the pivot.

18. Keep those who can combine responsibilities. In a crisis you need “universal” people.

19. The best crisis employee is the one who understands reality and stays loyal to the mission, even when conditions are hard. Those who stand firm should be rewarded after the crisis with responsibility, status and growth.

20. Work personally with every existing client. Remember their birthday and even their cat’s name. Stay present. Support them when they need it. Run free online sessions or provide a service at no charge sometimes. Not everything must be monetised immediately. They will remember it later.

After 4–12 weeks (if the market is clearer but the crisis continues)

If your business can still produce goods or services, define your anti-crisis customer niche: 

• “For everyone at a low price” (mass demand, simplicity, speed, affordability)
  or
• “For the selected few at a high price” (premium value, trust, exclusivity, strong margins)

 Trying to sit in the middle during a crisis is often the most dangerous strategy.

If your business is still alive after 2–3 months

1. Reassemble the surviving team and re-set roles for the new reality.

2. Launch adapted products, or invest in franchises of companies that are proven to be resilient in this type of crisis. During crises, franchises, equipment and technologies are often available on instalment terms.

3. Take an aggressive marketing stance. With the right direction, franchise or new business model, competition is often weaker.

4. Start creating a new market and stimulating demand for your new or modernised product. Remember: the world will not return to what it was.

5. Co-operate with partners into clusters and consortia to share resources, audiences, logistics and trust.

6. Negotiate free or low-cost media. Bring in media groups as partners and define their share in the business proportionally to their media investment.

7. Buy cheaply and on instalments directly from manufacturers of goods and services. Minimise immediate cash outflow.

8. Negotiate boldly for services at 10–15% of pre-crisis prices (or barter value), where realistic.

9. Learn to justify your position with win-win offers.
   Provide services on credit, give goods on consignment. Remember barter and use it with staff and counterparties where appropriate and lawful.

10. Sign an agreement with a competent legal partner to avoid unpleasant surprises.

11. Maximise outsourcing across your organisational structure and processes. This reduces tax overheads, increases flexibility, and allows you to disengage quickly if needed, while still using professionals.

12. Forget your previous life. Start again as if you have just graduated.

I have done this six times over the last 35 years. It works.

I invite you to discuss these and other serious issues in Davos, Switzerland, in July 2026, where GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK 2026 (GBW 2026) will take place and where business leaders and founders from 35 countries will come together for strategic dialogue and partnership-building.

The event is organised by Global Development Alliance (global-alliance.biz), the European Association of Business Development (eabd.org), the World Education, Science and Innovation Organisation (wesio.org), and other partner organisations.

As the Head of the GBW 2026 Organising Committee, I invite business owners to join a serious, results-driven dialogue.

More details: https://gbw.forum-expo.org/

Zaluzhnyi: “Our allies must deploy nuclear weapons in Ukraine as a security guarantee.”

Nuclear Shadows Over Ukraine: From the Budapest Memorandum to Calls for Allied Deterrence

When Valerii Zaluzhnyi publicly argued that Ukraine’s allies should deploy nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory as a security guarantee, it was not just a provocative soundbite. It was the latest expression of a long, painful story: a country that once held one of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals, gave it up under pressure and promises — and was then invaded by one of the guarantors.

To understand why such a statement can now be voiced by a senior Ukrainian statesman, we have to go back to the early 1990s.

Ukraine: Once the World’s Third-Largest Nuclear Power

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Ukraine did not start its independent life as a “normal” non-nuclear state. It suddenly found itself sitting on a huge part of the Soviet strategic arsenal: