Recently, FGS Global's Washington, D.C. Geopolitical & Policy Risk Advisory practice brought together about 50 ambassadors and senior embassy officials at the residence of the Colombian Ambassador – one of a series of engagements through which our team works alongside the diplomatic community, industry, and investors on the forces reshaping the political landscape. Our conversation reflected a reality that many businesses are already grappling with: As geopolitical shifts and domestic political priorities reshape supply chains, market access conditions, and capital flows, governments and businesses are required to anticipate and adapt to material changes for their economies and business models.
Underlying these shifts is a broader move toward a multipolar order: as economic and political power disperses across more centers of influence, companies must build relationships with a wider set of stakeholders – governments, multilateral institutions, investors, and civil society – than a more predictable environment demanded a decade ago.
"The things that are hard for us, new for us, are geopolitics." — NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang
For many businesses, geopolitical and policy risk pose a novel challenge that requires building the capabilities and processes to understand, track, and manage. When the founder and CEO of one of the world's most valuable companies publicly confides that geopolitics is among the hardest problems he faces, it is a signal to every boardroom that this has become a first-order strategic concern.
More than 50% of earnings calls now see analysts probe management teams on geopolitical and policy risk issues, a significant increase compared to only a few years ago that continues to increase. The topics go beyond the impact that acute crises like the 2026 Israel–Iran conflict have for supply chains, cost management, and revenue to increasingly encompass discussions of the risks and opportunities of strategic policy agendas and market interventions – a category of state activity that has grown roughly 11-fold over the last decade and a half. In addition, the rise of government-driven (co)-investments across a growing number of strategic industries is a sign of a changing relationship between the state and the market. Since 2010, sovereign wealth fund assets under management have grown roughly 15 times.
The implications for companies are profound. Geopolitical and policy risk considerations are moving from an afterthought to a key focus area impacting business and corporate strategy decision-making, from where to operate, where to invest, and how to compete. Getting that right requires proximity to the people and institutions driving it.
The case for early engagement
The expectation on senior leaders has shifted. Today's business leaders can't outsource geopolitical engagement. The CEOs navigating this well are operating as diplomats — present in the conversations that matter, not arriving after decisions have been made. That means understanding how international institutions shape rules before they become binding, building relationships with the diplomatic and policy communities that influence their operating environment, and maintaining standing with the full range of stakeholders who have a view on their business.
In practice, this means two things. First, staying close to the capitals and policy conversations that shape the operating environment, so that shifts can be read early rather than absorbed after the fact. Second, engaging a broader set of stakeholders – governments, multilaterals, investors, and civil society – to position for opportunities as they emerge, not merely to defend against risk. Moments like the UN General Assembly's High-Level Week (UNGA) in September make both possible at once: for a few days, 193 member states, heads of government, Fortune 500 CEOs, investors, and NGO leadership are concentrated within a few blocks of each other, creating a cross-sector environment that doesn't exist at any other point in the year. The companies that adopt this kind of forward-leaning posture don't just manage exposure – they build a competitive advantage over rivals still caught behind the curve.
Getting ahead of it
The companies best positioned on geopolitical risk aren't always the biggest or the best-resourced. They're the ones that treat it as something to anticipate rather than absorb. They read political signals early, understand what those signals mean for their specific business, and act before the situation forces their hand.
That orientation takes investment – in relationships, intelligence, and institutional knowledge. For organizations that haven't built it yet, the runway to UNGA is a reasonable place to start.
FGS Global's Geopolitical & Policy Risk Advisory practice advises corporations, governments, and institutions on the political and policy forces shaping their operating environment. Our UNGA practice supports organizations through the full arc of High-Level Week engagement — from stakeholder mapping and messaging to real-time navigation on the ground. To learn more ahead of UNGA 2026, contact our team at UNGA@fgsglobal.com or visit our UNGA dashboard.