Infographic: Terrorism and political violence

Political violence, terrorism and civil unrest are all major threats to business. Aon's handy terrorism risk map is now online and interactive (drill down to see the risk profile for individual countries).

Political violence, strikes, riots, civil war and war threaten the sustainable growth, continuity and profitability of businesses as much as terrorism so the terror threat map now takes these factors into account.

The 2011 Aon map shows increased risk of political violence in the Middle East and North Africa, reflecting the significant turbulence of the Arab Spring uprisings in the region.

Credit: http://www.aon.com/terrorismmap

The risk of coup d’etat and rebellions in Africa reflect a continent that presents a significant political violence risk. Civil unrest and labor disputes arising from austerity measures in Western European nations such as Greece, France, Spain and the UK are also reflected on the map.

Meanwhile, terrorism continues to severely afflict established conflict zones like Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia as well as parts of Nigeria and the Sahel region. The threat of occasional acts of international terrorism remains significant for most Western nations and major powers.

The map is one gauge of the intensity of political violence around the wolrd and three icons indicate the forms of political violence likely to be encountered:Terrorism and sabotage; strikes, riots, civil commotion and malicious damage to property; and political insurrection, revolution, rebellion, mutiny, coup d’etat, war and civil war.

Neil Henderson, head of terrorism in Aon Risk Solutions’ Crisis Management team, commented: “While terrorism remains a very real threat around the world, the reality is that threats to business continuity are also coming from political violence in all its many forms.

“Businesses should, as a first step, identify the threats they face and implement a comprehensive risk management program to protect their employees, physical assets and ultimately, their bottom line. As the insurance market for terrorism insurance is very mature and can cope with complex international risks, it should be considered as part of a sound risk management program.”

Dr. David Claridge, managing director of Janusian, added: “The threat of terrorism remains a daily concern for business risk managers. Islamist terrorist groups continue to pursue a global agenda, illustrated by plots such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s attempt to bomb cargo planes last October last year as well as internationalizing local grievances by attacking targets like Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, which was bombed in January.

“The uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa have highlighted the need for risk managers to take a comprehensive approach by assessing exposure to political violence in all its forms.”