Insights

The US-Israel conflict with Iran marks a significant turning point in military operations through extensive use of AI to accelerate the "kill chain," drastically reducing decision-making time from hours or days to seconds. AI processes vast amounts of intelligence—from intercepted communications to drone surveillance—enabling faster target identification and strikes. While this technological edge offers enhanced speed and efficiency, it raises critical risks, including the potential for higher civilian casualties, as seen in Gaza and reported incidents like the February 2024 US airstrike. The race for AI supremacy in defense prioritizes speed, despite ethical and strategic uncertainties involved.
Iran war shows how AI speeds up military ‘kill chains’
The United States and China have both adopted aggressive semiconductor industrial strategies, treating control over the supply chain as key to national security. China’s state support for its semiconductor industry is unprecedented, with government spending potentially reaching up to €140 billion between 2014 and 2024. The U.S. has comparable fiscal support, nearing €100 billion between 2022 and 2026, combining tax incentives, tariffs, and international trade agreements to bolster domestic capacity and reduce import dependency. These moves challenge the traditional market-driven semiconductor globalization, emphasizing semiconductors as critical infrastructure. Europe, revising its 2022 Chips Act amid this global landscape, faces decisions on how best to implement policies supporting its semiconductor ecosystem while navigating the assertive industrial nationalism of the U.S. and China.
Taiwan, China | Financial services, ICT
A New Economic Security Consensus ? Semiconductor Nationalism in China and the United States, and Europe’s Choices
Businesses are increasingly embracing a nature-positive economy as a source of resilience and profit, with sectors like precision agriculture, battery recycling, and bio-based materials showcasing cost savings and revenue generation. Despite ongoing harmful investments, the green economy has grown to an $8 trillion market, outperforming global equities by about 59% since 2008. Highlighting over 50 investible opportunities across 13 key sectors, these innovations offer economic returns alongside climate mitigation, job creation, and resilience. Developed by the World Economic Forum and Oliver Wyman, the report aims to guide corporate and financial leaders toward sustainable, industry-transforming investments.
Nigeria | Financial services
50 Investible Opportunities for a New Nature Economy
Businesses increasingly recognize that a nature-positive economy offers both long-term resilience and short-term financial gains. Opportunities such as precision agriculture, battery recycling, and bio-based materials are already generating cost savings and revenues across 13 critical sectors tied to nature. The green economy, valued at around $8 trillion in equity markets in 2024, has outperformed global equities by about 59% since 2008. While the private sector continues to invest $5 trillion annually in nature-harming activities, these 50+ investible opportunities promise economic returns, climate mitigation, job creation, and enhanced resilience, potentially driving industry-wide transitions.
Financial services
50 Investible Opportunities for a New Nature Economy
The Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle hosts over 2,000 economic zones that have driven investment and job creation but largely operate in isolation, missing opportunities for integrated cross-border value chains. Shifts in global supply chains, geopolitical tensions, and environmental demands underscore the need to transform these zones into interconnected, green, and digital hubs. Key steps include establishing formal subregional cooperation frameworks, developing cross-border value chains in priority sectors like rubber and electronics, investing in carbon-smart infrastructures, and digitalizing zone operations to enhance governance and logistics. These measures aim to boost resilience, reduce emissions, lower costs, and increase competitiveness, positioning SEZs as pivotal engines for sustainable regional development.
Cambodia, Chile, Egypt, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mozambique, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, China, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe | Financial services, ICT
5 Steps to Turn Isolated Special Economic Zones Into Integrated Hubs
Digital technologies have improved primary health care (PHC) for cardiovascular and mental health conditions in Asia-Pacific, especially through telemedicine, wearables, and mobile apps. However, most tools focus on targeted messaging and data collection, lacking integration for coordinated, long-term care. Artificial intelligence is underutilized, and user-centered design involving patients and providers is largely absent, risking poor adoption. Fragmented digital interventions limit care continuity and data sharing, hindering health system planning. To enhance impact, digital solutions must be integrated, culturally adapted, and support both physical and mental health, emphasizing coordinated, people-centered strategies that address regional disparities and equity.
Africa | Financial services, Education, ICT, Health
Closing Digital Health Gaps in Cardiovascular and Mental Health Care in Asia and the Pacific
High-impact entrepreneurship tends to cluster geographically in regional hotspots where conditions for scaling startups exist. These conditions include deep knowledge networks, sophisticated investors, specialized human capital, and supportive institutions. Sustained competitiveness relies not on simply increasing the number of startups but on developing ecosystem depth that enables startups to grow and scale effectively.
Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya
Fostering High-Impact Entrepreneurship in Regional Clusters
Europe holds significant geoeconomic power, accounting for over 24% of global GDP, nearly equal to the United States and surpassing China. It possesses strategic assets in sectors like industrial robotics and pharmaceuticals but faces a "middle technology trap," lagging in innovation areas like AI and ICT. Europe's challenge lies in retaining capital for R&D investment domestically, as substantial funds flow to the US. To advance, Europe could adopt a “coalition of the willing” approach, where willing countries collaborate on economic initiatives without full EU consensus. Immediate challenges include navigating U.S. tariffs and geopolitical tensions impacting trade.
Argentina, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, China, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Yemen, Zimbabwe | Financial services
From the Strait of Hormuz to geoeconomic strategies, Europe has more power than it believes
Asia’s extensive grasslands, covering about 8.9 million km², are crucial for food systems, climate stability, and livelihoods but face threats from land fragmentation, reduced pastoral mobility, and unsustainable use. These grasslands provide essential ecosystem services, including carbon storage and biodiversity, with economic values exceeding those of food production alone. Pastoralism, based on seasonal livestock mobility, sustains diverse livelihoods but is constrained by land conversion and access restrictions. Strengthening community-led governance, investing in well-managed grazing practices, restoring degraded rangelands, and aligning policies with sustainable financing are vital to maintaining grassland resilience and supporting both ecological functions and pastoral economies.
Bangladesh | Financial services, Health
Sustaining Asia’s Grasslands Through Smarter Governance and Investment
Global trade critically depends on five narrow maritime chokepoints, with the Strait of Hormuz being the most vital for energy, carrying 39% of seaborne crude oil and 19% of natural gas. Its closure by Iran has caused the largest oil supply disruption in history, sharply increasing prices and affecting food production costs due to fertilizer exports. The Suez Canal, a key link between Asia and Europe, handles 10% of global trade but is vulnerable to blockages and regional conflicts affecting nearby Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The Panama Canal, essential for high-value goods, faces climatic and geopolitical risks. The Strait of Malacca, the busiest shipping lane, is crucial for East Asian energy imports, especially China's, and is threatened by piracy. These chokepoints highlight global trade’s vulnerability to geopolitical tensions and environmental challenges.
Bahrain, Malaysia, Oman
From the strait of Hormuz to Malacca, global trade relies almost entirely on these five narrow waterways
The Trump administration’s December 2025 National Security Strategy marks a radical shift from US global leadership and a rules-based international order to a focus on nationalism and regional dominance. It views traditional alliances and partnerships as vulnerabilities rather than strengths. This shift extends beyond policy to include a profoundly altered decision-making process characterized by the removal of senior career officials and reduced reliance on intelligence, legal advice, and alliance consultations. The result is a more impulsive, ideologically driven US foreign policy that challenges allies, especially in the transatlantic community, to reassess how to engage with an unpredictable and less strategically anchored United States.
Managing the Transatlantic Relationship in the Absence of US Leadership: Understanding the Trump Administration’s National Security Strategy
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will revolutionize astronomy by generating massive datasets—10 terabytes nightly and a total of 15 petabytes over ten years—covering the southern sky in unprecedented detail. International collaboration has enabled its data processing and access systems, yet the volume of transient data and false alerts necessitates machine learning and AI to identify and classify significant cosmic events efficiently. This reliance on automated analysis reflects a broader shift in modern astronomy toward code-intensive, tech-driven research supported by global partnerships and citizen science initiatives. AI will be critical in managing big data, allowing astronomers to focus on astrophysical discoveries rather than data sifting.
How big data is transforming what we know about the universe
Climate change and artificial intelligence are simultaneously reshaping societies, causing large-scale disruption and displacement. Disruption alters economic and social norms, while displacement involves the tangible loss of livelihoods, homes, and roles. Market-driven efficiency fails to address the unequal and costly transition people face. Proactive state governance is essential to manage these shifts equitably by anticipating climate migration, investing in resilient infrastructure, and implementing social protections and retraining programs to mitigate social and economic instability. Without such intervention, these transformations risk deepening inequality and societal alienation.
Nigeria | Financial services, Health, ICT, Education
Disruption and Displacement: Understanding the dual transformations of our time - LSE International Development
Streamlined, modular peace operations offer necessary agility but risk weakening core Security Sector Governance and Reform (SSG/R) functions critical for addressing conflict drivers and fostering sustainable security. Successful missions must balance being lighter and more flexible while maintaining strong advisory capacity to political leadership and grounding efforts in political strategy, conflict analysis, and governance reform. A modular approach, supported by networked expertise and strategic partnerships, can preserve essential governance foundations and enable scalable, inclusive, and accountable transitions, with the UN retaining ultimate responsibility.
Health
A modular mindset: Reframing security sector governance and reform in future peace operations
Mainstream European parties in the European Parliament maintain strong and consistent support for Ukraine, rejecting claims of "war fatigue" despite economic and political pressures. Voting patterns reveal sustained backing for sanctions and aid, particularly among centrist groups like the EPP, S&D, and Renew Europe. However, the populist radical right is increasingly divided: while some parties in Eastern and Northern Europe remain assertive against Russia, others, including Germany’s AfD, Austria’s Freedom Party, and Hungary’s Fidesz, show sympathy toward Russia or abstain from condemning it. This split highlights growing polarization within the far right over Russia amidst the ongoing conflict.
Europe’s Ukraine consensus still holds – but the far right is splitting over Russia
In 2026, artificial intelligence has progressed from experimentation to delivering measurable gains across industries by integrating into core workflows. Organizations are embedding AI in customer experience, operations, R&D, strategic planning, and talent management, shifting from isolated uses to connected systems and continuous processes that enhance human value. Adoption at scale relies on five principles: human accountability, comprehensive operating model redesign, scalable talent systems, transparency-driven trust, and disciplined experimentation, all fostering sustained productivity, resilience, and growth.
Education
Organizational Transformation in the Age of AI: How Organizations Maximize AI's Potential
In 2026, organizations have moved beyond initial AI experimentation to achieve measurable gains by embedding AI into core workflows across customer experience, operations, R&D, strategic planning, and talent management. Leading companies are shifting from isolated AI use cases to integrated systems and continuous processes that emphasize human value creation. Five key principles drive scalable AI adoption: human accountability, end-to-end operating model redesign, scalable talent systems, transparency-driven trust, and disciplined experimentation, fostering sustained productivity, resilience, and growth.
Education
Organizational Transformation in the Age of AI: How Organizations Maximize AI's Potential
The OECD/G20 global minimum tax (GMT) under Pillar Two sets a 15% minimum effective tax rate for large multinational enterprises, significantly reducing the impact of traditional tax incentives like tax holidays. This challenges developing countries that rely on such incentives to attract foreign investment. While the GMT limits the benefits of lowering corporate tax rates, governments can still design competitive tax policies by focusing on genuine economic activity, utilizing features like the Substance-Based Income Exclusion (SBIE), and implementing tools such as the Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (QDMTT). Countries must assess economic impacts carefully and adapt investment incentives within this new global tax landscape.
Barbados, Dominican Republic, Taiwan, China, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates | Financial services
Adapting Investment Incentives to the Global Minimum Tax
Georgia's competitiveness hinges on transitioning from commodity exports to high-value, green industries. Transforming its outdated free industrial zones into comprehensive special economic zones (SEZs) that incorporate circular economy principles can drive industrial upgrading, job creation, and compliance with EU environmental standards. By adopting closed-loop systems, green infrastructure, and unified legislation modeled on successful global examples, Georgia can become a regional hub for sustainable trade and innovation.
Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Lesotho, Moldova, Mozambique, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Zambia, Zimbabwe | ICT
Comprehensive Special Economic Zones and the Circular Economy Model: Opportunities for Georgia
Asia and Pacific forests cover 6 million sq km and store 62.2 billion tons of carbon, harboring rich biodiversity with numerous endemic species. Between 2000-2020, the region lost 682,000 sq km of forest due to commodity-driven deforestation (51%), forestry activities (35%), and shifting agriculture (12%), emitting 42.2 billion tons of CO2. Forest regrowth occurred but was mostly secondary forest with lower ecological value. Deforestation harms biodiversity, human health, and climate resilience. Effective conservation strategies include passive protection, empowering Indigenous rights, payments for ecosystem services, enforcing regulations, and shifting commodity sourcing toward deforestation-free practices, helping reduce emissions and protect vital ecosystems.
Antarctica, Bangladesh | Financial services
Protecting and Restoring Asia and the Pacific Forests for Climate and Biodiversity

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