The world is “sitting on a precipice” as intensifying global power rivalries and economic confrontation dominate near-term risks, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2026 Global Risks Report released Wednesday. Surveying 1,300 leaders, the report paints a stark picture where half expect turbulent times ahead, while only 1% anticipate calm.

Top Short-Term Risks: Conflict, Disinformation, Division
“Geoeconomic confrontation”—marked by weaponized tariffs, supply chain disruptions, and capital constraints—leads the list of concerns for the next two years, threatening a substantial contraction in global trade. Misinformation and disinformation rank second, followed by societal polarization, highlighting a fragmented landscape that impedes collective crisis response.

“It’s very much about state-based armed conflict and the concerns around that,” said WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi. Economic anxieties have seen the sharpest rise among risk categories, fueled by fears of downturn, inflation, and asset bubbles amid high debt and market volatility.

Long-Term Shifts: AI Dangers Climb, Environmental Focus Wanes
The report notes a dramatic surge in concerns over artificial intelligence, which jumped from 30th among short-term risks last year to fifth among long-term threats. Leaders warn of labor displacement, spiraling inequality, and potential loss of human control as machine learning and quantum computing converge.

While extreme weather remains the top decade-long concern—with global insured catastrophe losses hitting $107 billion in 2025—other environmental risks have been “deprioritized” amid pressing geopolitical and economic crises. “Our collective capacity and mind share to act on it, that’s what’s been reduced,” Zahidi noted.

A Call for "Coalitions of the Willing"
The report concludes that “coalitions of the willing” among governments, businesses, and civil society are essential to building resilience. However, a “retreat from multilateralism” and a “new age of competition” raise grave doubts about the world’s ability to cooperate on transnational threats like climate change and future pandemics.

As Marsh CEO John Doyle described, today is “a moment of poly-crises”—a convergence of trade wars, technological upheaval, and climate impacts that together test the limits of global governance and business stability.