According to a CCTV News report on September 16, the “2026 Global Risks Report” released by the United Nations on the 15th showed that the ranking of large-scale wars among global risks has risen rapidly.
“Global Risks Report 2026”
The latest “Global Risk Report 2026” released by the United Nations shows that compared with two years ago, political risks have replaced environmental risks as the top risk in various regions around the world. Multiple risks are intertwined and superimposed, continuing to increase the risk of large-scale war. However, we are still unprepared for this.
The official website of the United Nations released the “Global Risk Report 2026” on the 15th. The report surveyed 1,300 people from all walks of life around the world and comprehensively sorted out the political risks, environmental risks, economic risks, social risks and technological risks facing the world today. The survey results show that the importance of political risks and technological risks has increased significantly compared with two years ago, among which large-scale war risks, artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technology risks are more prominent. The report also points out that our preparations for these risks are seriously inadequate.
Among political risks, the risks that are growing rapidly are mainly large-scale wars, geopolitical tensions and failure of the rule of law. By region, six of the seven regions surveyed by the United Nations rated large-scale war as one of the top five risks facing the region. Among them, Central and South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania rank the risk of large-scale war first among all risks.
From an emergency perspective, large-scale war will no longer be a distant threat. The ranking of large-scale war has risen sharply among all risks, rising 16 places from two years ago, the largest improvement among all risks. 36% of the respondents believe that a large-scale war will occur within a year, and 76% believe that a large-scale war will occur within seven years.
It is worth noting that the report also points out in the chapter “How global risks are related to each other” that multiple risks, including political risks, economic risks, and social risks, constitute a huge system. Various risks strengthen and promote each other, and risks are continuously amplified through the system network. Respondents believe that risks such as failure of the rule of law, large-scale wars and geopolitical tensions are the core nodes in the entire risk network and are also important drivers and consequences of other risks. If these risks are not adequately addressed, this could trigger a chain reaction that affects the wider risk system.
For example, risks brought by artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technology may promote false information on the Internet; debt risks and sluggish growth may promote financial risks and social injustice; ineffective response to climate change may trigger more natural disasters and force more people to migrate. The sum of all these results will seriously affect social cohesion, cause rule of law failure and geopolitical tensions, and ultimately lead to large-scale war.
However, in the face of various interconnected risks, there is a lack of consensus and effective coordination mechanisms among countries. United Nations Secretary-General Guterres pointed out at the beginning of the report that the global risk landscape has become more complex and “no country, no company, no institution can face these risks alone.” The report concludes by pointing out that in order to deal with global risks, we still face three obstacles: imperfect governance and coordination mechanisms, lack of political consensus, insufficient resources, and lack of trust and accountability mechanisms.
