It seems not a day or week goes by now without some violent political event or attack taking place somewhere in the world including the U.S. Beneath the headlines this is breeding a growing risk uncertainty in how organizations need to operate let alone expand and grow internationally. No longer is it restricted to the old standbys of the Middle East or Africa. Organizations in Europe and Asia must now seriously re-think their approach to risk mitigation and Duty of Care obligations to all staff, especially those locally employed.

This has an impact on every sector whether commercial, no-profit (NGOs), educational or even governmental. This new reality was recently highlighted in The Clements Worldwide Winter/Spring 2017 ‘Risk Index’, a biannual survey of senior risk management executives. It has some surprising and disturbing trends. According to the survey, “Violent political events are up dramatically over the last year with one in four global organizations feeling the impact”. (“The survey, compiled twice each year, found the number of organizations suffering the effects of a political violence event nearly doubled from a year ago, up 90 percent over the Clements report issued last spring. Also troubling was the finding that more of these events were noted in Europe, rather than the usual hot spots in the Middle East or Africa. Nearly 23 percent of respondents said they experienced political violence in Europe, while 21 percent reported impacts in the Middle East and just over 17 percent noted troubles in Africa.”)

How these organizations move forward at a time when traditional global institutions and governments at all levels are increasingly challenged and wrestling with how to mitigate these risks, pressures each of them to become more self-reliant and resilient.