Popular distrust

THE WORLD seems to be going through a period of stasis despite facing an unfathomable polycrisis.

- 

Key surveys on people's perception of the world in 2026 reveal uncertainty about the future and near collapse of trust in governance structures. A few years ago these risk assessment reports showed environmental meltdowns as the biggest risk; not this year. People seem to be in shock from the geoeconomical developments and the world splitting into multiple poles with strong isolationism.

The World Economic Forum’s “Global Risks Report 2026” puts “uncertainty” as its defining theme. Its “Global Risks Perception Survey”, synthesising views of over 1,300 global leaders and experts, says that 50 per cent of them anticipate a turbulent or stormy outlook in the next two years, and the figure goes up to 57 per cent for the outlook for the next 10 years. “A further 40 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively, view the global outlook as unsettled over the two-and 10-year time frames, with only 1 per cent anticipating a calm outlook across each time horizon,” the survey says. Nearly every fifth respondent flagged geo-economic confrontation as the top risk, potentially triggering a material global crisis in 2026.