Businesses Are Preparing for Another Year of Geopolitical Tumult

Businesses are bracing for another year of geopolitical uncertainty, with question marks looming over Presidentelect Donald Trump's foreign policy strategy and broader global tumult, despite some executives' optimism about the year ahead.

- RICHARD VANDERFORD

Geopolitical concerns remain top of mind amid general global uncertainty and, in particular, a continued reordering of the U.S.-China relationship.

Multiple governments around the world saw turmoil in a single week, Goldman Sachs Chief Financial Officer Denis Coleman said last month, citing France, Syria and South Korea. "To say that there is geopolitical instability in the world would be a gross understatement," he said.

The costs of doing business globally have come to a 10year peak as deglobalization and so-called friendshoring gain momentum, according to an analysis released in November by Verisk Maplecroft, a consulting firm.