February 2026 Look Ahead
February 2026 presents a compressed risk environment driven by a convergence of major holidays, mass-gathering events, religious observances, and planned political demonstrations, particularly in Washington, DC. The highest-risk windows fall around Super Bowl Sunday (Feb 8), Mardi Gras/Lunar New Year (Feb 17), and late-month democracy-related mobilizations (Feb 21 and Feb 27–28). Organizations should anticipate crowd density, alcohol-related disorder, protest/counter-protest dynamics, transportation disruption, and heightened soft-target exposure.
RMS International’s 2026 Threat Forecast
As 2026 unfolds, public and private sector global security teams will operate under mounting stress originating from a hybrid of geopolitical tensions, infrastructure vulnerabilities, and emerging technologies that essentially collapse the boundary and threaten public and private sector verticals between digital and physical domains. The current security environment and potential 2026 technological and physical security disruptors will require senior leadership or board-level engagement, cross-functional coordination, and faster recovery cycles.
Poland Grounds for Concern: Russian Drones Get a Rough Landing
In the early hours of September 10-11, 2025, 19 to 23 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) crossed into eastern, central, and northern Poland—some via Belarus—during a broader Russian attack targeting Ukraine.
Update: France’s Political Crisis and Nationwide Strike
Change flight plans if traveling through France on September 10th due to disruptions in airport services, ground transportation and businesses due to a large-scale public strike. Avoid air travel in France and throughout Europe on September 18th and 19th due to air traffic controller strike that will halt the majority of all air travel in France and cause cascading delays throughout Europe with cancellations and rerouting of flights.
Happening Now: France’s Political Crisis and Nationwide Strike
France stands at the center of a deepening political and fiscal crisis as Prime Minister François Bayrou’s minority government braces for a confidence vote on September 8 that he is widely expected to lose. If Bayrou’s government falls, President Emmanuel Macron currently intends to appoint a new prime minister rather than call snap elections, although he has ruled out dissolution for now.