Political Violence Events Now Impacting One in Four Global Organizations, Latest Clements Worldwide Risk Index Reveals
Washington, DC (PRWEB) March 22, 2017 -- Violent political events are up dramatically over the last year with one in four global organizations feeling the impact, as reported in the latest edition of the 2017 Clements Worldwide Risk Index (CWRI), released today in Washington, D.C.
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.
France, Germany and Brussels all made international headlines in 2016 when terrorists launched attacks that killed or harmed innocent people and paralyzed entire nations.
“It appears that violent political events such as terrorism, war, riots, civil unrest and labor strikes are occurring more frequently, and are no longer isolated to known, politically unstable areas on the globe,” said Chris Beck, President of Clements Worldwide. “These trends make a clear case for organizations everywhere to take steps in advance to prepare in the event their region becomes the unexpected target of protests or worse.”
The leading concern for businesses when it came to political violence was the uncertainty around elections and protests associated with voting. Some 27.2% of respondents said they were worried about the effect of elections in countries where they operate, up from 19.1% the year before.
The probability of more conflict seems likely given the upcoming elections on the schedule this year. Important elections taking place in the coming months include Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Election later this month; France’s Presidential Election in May; Kenya’s general election in August; and Thailand’s General Election in late 2017.
Among other results reported, one in six respondents cited legislation – the uncertainty about changes in political leadership and its subsequent effect on government policies in countries around the world – as their primary concern, a new measure included in the latest Clements Worldwide Risk Index. This finding quantifies worry about such variables as the rise of nationalism on business legislation, fallout from elections, trade barriers and fluctuating currencies.
The culmination of these critical risks have left more than one-third of respondents, or 37 percent, surveyed uncertain about whether to expand their international operations.
The survey reports responses from more than 500 senior risk management executives in the IT, manufacturing, construction, government, banking, transportation, non-government organizations (NGO), tourism, education and oil and gas sectors.
The full 2017 Clements Worldwide Risk Index, which was conducted online from November to December 2016, is now available on the Clements Worldwide website.
Patricia Loria, Clements Worldwide, http://www.clements.com, +1 (202) 741-1555, [email protected]
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