Following weeks of ominous intelligence reports, the world once again finds itself grappling with a destabilizing geopolitical event – this time on the European continent itself. When Russian forces rolled into Ukraine on Feb. 24, it was not totally unexpected. Yet, when 2022 risk assessments were being compiled in recent months, this was a risk few saw coming. The World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Risk Report, published a little over six weeks ago, acknowledged increased tensions but did not include armed conflict between nation states or geoeconomic confrontation among its top 10 global risks in the next two years. And geoeconomic confrontation barely made the top 10 list for the decade ahead.
