Doubling down on resilience in an uncertain world
Ten years ago the Swiss dismantled the remains of Cold War explosives previously embedded in its roads, railways, bridges and tunnels to protect itself and to deter an invasion. The Swiss acted in the belief that globalisation, democracy and free markets would prevail and that the trust established within the Western world would increase and spread.
Now, as we produce our first Airmic News of 2026, such optimism is in danger of becoming a misguided if well-intentioned dream. Geoeconomic confrontation between major powers is seen as the biggest threat to global stability in the next two years according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2026.
The outlook is unsettled and darkens further over the next decade, as prolonged global instability is predicted. The world is ambiguous and uncertain, supply chains are increasingly volatile and fractured, and long-established trust has been broken.
Over the same decade, the concept of resilience has matured and broadened, and is now shifting from being a primarily operational discipline into a strategic capability linked to competitiveness, long-term sustainability, and thriving countries and organisations.
Approaches to resilience vary, but common threads exist within the most successful businesses. This month, Airmic and the BCI have published research that examines the 8 Principles of Resilience – supporting our members to understand, benchmark and deepen their own organisational resilience.
I am pleased to say that our research leaves me feeling positive about the outlook for this year, despite the world’s challenges. It revealed that resilience is more deeply embedded in organisations, and more closely linked to strategy than ever before. We are on a clear and positive trajectory.
Resilience is critical to understanding how we navigate change and seize opportunities – and never before has this been so important.