{"id":515925,"date":"2026-01-14T16:59:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T16:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/515925\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T16:59:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T16:59:17","slug":"geoeconomic-confrontation-worlds-top-threat-global-leaders-say-business-and-economy-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/515925\/","title":{"rendered":"Geoeconomic confrontation world\u2019s top threat, global leaders say | Business and Economy News"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Economic Forum survey says economic tools used as geopolitical weapons the most pressing risk to global stability.<\/p>\n

Published On 14 Jan 202614 Jan 2026<\/p>\n

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\u201cGeoeconomic confrontation\u201d looms as the most pressing global threat facing the world in the short term, according to decision-makers surveyed in a World Economic Forum (WEF) report.<\/p>\n

The organisation\u2019s annual Global Risks Report, released on Wednesday, polled more than 1,300 experts worldwide about the greatest risks to global stability.<\/p>\n

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Eighteen percent of those surveyed identified \u201cgeoeconomic confrontation\u201d \u2013 involving the use of trade, investment, sanctions and industrial policy as strategic weapons to constrain geopolitical rivals and consolidate spheres of influence \u2013 as the most likely trigger of a global crisis within the next two years.<\/p>\n

Saadia Zahidi \u2013 managing director of the WEF annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, which is \u200ddue to start next week \u2013 cited rising tariffs, checks on foreign investment and tighter supply controls on resources like critical minerals as examples of \u201cgeoeconomic confrontation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It \u2060is] when economic policy tools become essentially weaponry rather than a basis of cooperation,\u201d she said at an online news conference.<\/p>\n

While the report did not name specific countries, the category\u2019s rise from ninth in last year\u2019s report to the top spot reflects a year marked by renewed trade wars between rival powers sparked as the administration of President Donald Trump in the United States imposed aggressive tariffs<\/a> on trading partners.<\/p>\n

The report said the risk of geoeconomic confrontation is rising as the world enters a new \u201cage of competition\u201d with economic tools increasingly weaponised as extensions of geopolitical strategy amid a broader retreat from multilateralism.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtectionism, strategic industrial policy and active influence by governments over critical supply chains all signal a world growing more intensely competitive,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

Economic rivalries are coming to the fore, it said, as concerns grow over \u201can economic downturn, rising inflation and potential asset bubbles as countries face high debt burdens and volatile markets\u201d.<\/p>\n

The report ranked misinformation and disinformation, and societal polarisation as the second and third most pressing threats in the short term.<\/p>\n

Environment-related concerns were ranked the greatest threat over a 10-year period with extreme weather, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and critical change to earth systems considered the gravest long-term risks.<\/p>\n

In a statement accompanying the release of the report, Peter Giger, group chief risk officer at Zurich Insurance Group and a member of the report\u2019s advisory board, said that with such \u201ca complex mix of interacting risks\u201d demanding attention, serious threats such as the risk to critical infrastructure appeared \u201cunderplayed\u201d.<\/p>\n

The survey rated disruptions to critical infrastructure \u2013 such as energy, water and digital systems \u2013 as the 22nd biggest risk over the next two years and 23rd over the next 10, he noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s strikingly low for something so fundamental to modern life,\u201d he said, calling it \u201ca dangerous oversight\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World Economic Forum survey says economic tools used as geopolitical weapons the most pressing risk to global stability.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":515926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[64,438,113,79,50,8304,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-515925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-business-and-economy","10":"tag-conflict","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-trade-war","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115894522309099895","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}