Sweden’s still ahead in the preparedness game — and now it means business

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The town’s then-Mayor Gavin Newsom had made catastrophe preparedness a key a part of his program and to this present day, I do know precisely what objects to at all times have at residence in case of a disaster: Water, blankets, flashlights, canned meals and a hand-cranked radio. And people objects are the identical, whether or not the disaster is an earthquake, a cyberattack or a navy assault.

Different earthquake-prone cities and areas disseminate related preparedness recommendation — as do a fast-growing variety of international locations, now dealing with threats from hostile states. Poland, because it occurs, printed its new leaflet only a few days earlier than Russia’s drones entered its airspace.

However these preparedness directions have typically targeted on residents and households; companies should provide you with their very own preparedness plans towards no matter Russia or different hostile states and their proxies assume up — and towards excessive climate occasions too. That’s numerous hostile exercise. Prior to now couple years alone, undersea cables have been broken underneath mysterious circumstances; a Polish shopping center and a Lithuanian Ikea retailer have been topic to arson assaults; drones have been circling above weapons-manufacturing amenities; and a defense-manufacturing CEO has been the goal of an assassination plot; simply to call a number of incidents.

<img decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.politico.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/26/GettyImages-2227001303-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-7394163" srcset="https://www.politico.eu/cdn-cgi/image/width=1024,quality=80,onerror=redirect,format=auto/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/26/GettyImages-2227001303.jpg 1024w, https://www.politico.eu/cdn-cgi/image/width=300,quality=80,onerror=redirect,format=auto/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/26/GettyImages-2227001303.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"/> San Francisco’s then-Mayor Gavin Newsom had made catastrophe preparedness a key a part of his program. | Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu by way of Getty Pictures

It’s no marvel geopolitical threats are inflicting alarm to the non-public sector.

World insurance coverage dealer Willis Towers Watson’s 2025 Political Danger Survey, which focuses on multinationals, discovered that the political threat losses in 2023 — the latest 12 months for which information is obtainable — had been at their highest stage because the survey started. Firms are notably involved about financial retaliation, state-linked cyberattacks and state-linked assaults on infrastructure within the space of gray-zone aggression.

Sure, companies round Europe obtain warnings and updates from their governments, and enormous companies have disaster managers and run disaster administration workout routines for his or her workers. However there was no nationwide preparedness information for companies — till now.