It’s just the beginning of 2026 and we have already seen the global landscape undergoing rapid, fundamental shifts. Here are five defining themes from the first two weeks of 2026.
On January 10, the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture convened to discuss frameworks for “water tenure” as competition between agricultural, industrial and human consumption reaches critical levels. On January 5, Egypt confirmed receipt of EU aid explicitly tied to stabilising its economy amid heightened water scarcity and ongoing Red Sea shipping disruptions, underscoring how resource stability is a driver of foreign aid. The race for global resources is on overdrive.
The first days of 2026 reinforced a pattern that has been building across continents, of a widening gap between state authority and citizen consent. We are witnessing not just episodic protest, but a structural questioning of political legitimacy, driven by a younger, digitally connected generation that is willing to challenge status quo. When economic stress, inequality and demographic change intersect, authority seems no longer automatically deferred to.
On January 11, an ILO report warned that while global unemployment rates remained stable, “decent work” opportunities were stagnating. The report cited the rapid adoption of autonomous AI agents in entry-level cognitive roles as a key factor impacting young workers. The Nobel-winning AI pioneer, Geoffrey Hinton, has warned that 2026 could be a year in which AI’s rapid advancement significantly reshapes labour markets. On Jan 8, Microsoft unveiled new agentic AI solutions that automate end-to-end processes and Anthropic launched Claude Cowork. These confirm that agentic AI is now being put into real products and platforms.
The early weeks of 2026 underscored how global power is becoming more interest-driven and transactional, with nations prioritising strategic autonomy, supply-chain security and economic resilience. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report released in January ranked geo-economic confrontation, protectionism and strategic competition among the top risks to global stability. New and expanded travel and trade restrictions across multiple regions in the first half of January illustrated how mobility of people, capital and technology is increasingly filtered through security and national-interest lenses. Global integration is no longer linear. It is becoming modular and organised around trusted networks, strategic resources and self interest.
Credit bureaus shifted to weekly reporting cycles from January 1, compressing risk assessment and pricing cycles, forcing lenders to update models at unprecedented speed. JPMorgan’s move to take over the Apple Card portfolio underscored the growing Big Tech–Big Bank convergence.
The opening days of 2026 have served as a powerful opening to the year. We are in a world that demands unprecedented agility from leaders. The old playbooks are obsolete: the future belongs to the adaptable.
