Is This the End of Globalization?

Political events in 2016 gave rise to increasing nationalism and populism globally. Combined with a global slowdown in economic and trade growth, international integration may already have plateaued and could begin to reverse over the coming decade. Multinational organizations should prepare for potentially significant implications by carefully considering the political threats in the countries in which they operate. Given the complex implications of “peak globalization,” companies can prepare by formally documenting the countries with which they interact—whether from the perspective of investments, workforce, or supply chains—and assessing the associated economic and operational risks, using indices such as Marsh’s Political Risk Map 2017.