More geopolitical fragmentation, protests and turmoil are expected this year after threats to individuals and assets jumped in 2025, according to a report from Willis risk advisory and crisis support service Alert:24. 

Organisations need to refine crisis plans, strengthen intelligence and travel risk management, and ensure they have strategies for when conditions shift, it says.

Willis Asia-Pacific head of crisis management Will Miller warns businesses face an operating environment marked by persistent unpredictability.

Although Asia-Pacific is one of the quieter regions, he says it will continue to face civil unrest driven by economic pressures, political grievances and rising youth activism.

“Across Asia-Pacific, we continue to see how quickly strikes, riots and civil commotion can escalate into significant operational and financial exposure for businesses.”  

Gen Z activists have emerged as a force that uses social networks and digital platforms to organise demonstrations, according to Willis’ Crisis Management Annual Review.

Numbers of mass shootings and mass murders declined in the US last year, but the threat of assailants, often armed individuals with political grievances, remains.

Although political violence is increasing, terrorism insurance for US clients is cheaper as insurers chase market share.

Conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, Sahel and south Asia widened in scope last year, with the impacts spilling over into airspace disruption and supply chain instability.

Drone intrusions, sabotage attempts and targeted influence operations expanded, affecting aviation and critical infrastructure.