World map of the ten environments in the Circuit Q4 2026 risk re-check, shaded by band, with July and September scores

Ten operating environments, six risk drivers, one quarter. In August we published a map of the ten places where protective work had changed most in the previous two years, and we promised to come back every quarter and re-score it. On September 30 we did exactly that, checking every score against dated sources: US and UK government travel advice, court filings, UN records and reporting from the ground.

The short version is that one environment changed band, seven scores moved, and nothing got better. The changes were also not where most people would have looked. Two of the biggest movers, Saudi Arabia and Germany, were sitting at the comfortable end of the map in July.

If you only have five minutes, the executive summary gives you all ten environments on one page. If you have a principal, a site or a trip in one of these places, go straight to that region:

  • Executive summary: the scoreboard, the five things to know, and every environment in one table.

  • The Americas: an armed attack at a US campaign event, a curfew in Ecuador, and no change in Mexico or Haiti.

  • Europe: Russia's drone campaign reaches German airports, while France holds steady.

  • Middle East: Saudi Arabia, the quarter's only band change, after four Houthi attack waves in three weeks.

  • West Africa and the Sahel: bigger abductions in Nigeria and a mutiny at Niamey's airport.

  • Southeast Asia: the Myanmar–Thailand border, now one point short of our highest band.

  • Before you deploy: a short re-check list and the refreshed risk workbook, re-scored and dated.

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