What We’ll Have to Face in 2026

Outside the Church, in the culture, we have the problem of people dividing society up between oppressed and oppressor, friends and enemies, and a complete breakdown of solidarity with our neighbors. Some people choose to withdraw from culture completely, leaving our communities and nation in the hands of vicious leaders who lack virtue and care more about power than justice.

That “Outside the Church” observation crystalized for me the fact that for all of our polarization, both sides are acting in exactly the same way.  The “binary” (as they say) of oppressed and oppressor that the critical theorists keep invoking is also how many of us  conservatives have been interpreting just about everything.  We differ on who is doing the oppressing, but we all think we are oppressed.

(In gratitude for these insights, I am linking to the site where you can give to Mere Orthodoxy.)

That little comment in a fund-raising e-mail inspired me to look for other sober assessments of what we are going to have to face in the coming year.

Everbridge, a management consultant site, gives the Top 10 Global Risks to Watch in 2026 that businesses will need to prepare for (with specifics given at the link):

1. Cyberattacks and systemic cyber risk

2. The dual edge of AI

3. Natural disasters and climate-driven extremes

5. Business interruption from supply chain shocks

6. Misinformation and disinformation

7. Regulatory fragmentation and trade restrictions

8. Macroeconomic and financial instability

9. Talent shortages and skills mismatch

10. Polycrises  [when multiple crises happen at once]

Technologist Bernard Marr offers The Top 5 Technology Trends For 2026 (with specifics given at the link):

1. AI Disruption: From Reaction To Reinvention

2. The Agentic Revolution

3. Useful Quantum Computing

4. Solving Tech’s Energy Crisis

5. The Human Factor

You can find similar lists on other topics and from different perspectives.  Political lists reflect the liberal or conservative biases of their makers.  I’ll list a few matters that are up in the air, but should be coming down to earth in the year ahead:

 The Midterm Elections:  2026 is an election year, in which all the entire House of Representatives will be up for re-election, as well as 35 of the 100 Senators.  Plus many local elections.  This will take place on November 3.  Will Republicans keep their current majorities?  Will the nation repudiate the Trump administration?  What will these elections mean for the government, the political parties, and the nation?

The United States Semiquincentennial:  that is, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.  This will celebrate the founding of our nation, which will have existed for a quarter of a millennium.  Many events and activities are planned throughout the year.  (See the America250 website.) But what will be the tone and effect of these observances?  Will they bring the nation together or further tear it apart?  Will Americans come to appreciate their country more, or be made to feel ashamed of it?  Will the observances be an occasion of national renewal, or the end of an era and the beginning of a new and different social order?

Tariffs:  Will President Trump’s tariffs help our economy by creating more jobs and industries in this country by restricting foreign trade?  Or will it hurt our economy by sending up prices, limiting exports, and disrupting supply lines?  The jury is still out, but things may be clearer in the upcoming year.

Wars:  Wars and rumors of wars loom over the world. Will the Ukraine War finally end?  Will there be a lasting peace in the Middle East?  Will China attack Taiwan?  How about the countless other conflicts and civil wars that have broken out or may well break out in other countries?

What else?

Illustration via Skillpoint Therapy,  CC BY-NC 4.0