Resilience Is the New Efficiency

First Davos, then Munich: As always, the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps is followed by the Security Conference in the Bavarian capital. But it is not merely their temporal and geographic proximity that links these major events. They also symbolize a fundamental shift in the relationship between politics and business.

In our world of upheaval – marked by instability, power projection, and the erosion of norms – we are witnessing the emergence of new guiding logics. I observe foreign and security policy becoming increasingly geoeconomic in nature, while geopolitics and security, in turn, gain growing importance in the business sphere.

Politics becomes geoeconomic – business becomes geopolitical

Politically, we see a shifting perspective on globalization and economic integration: they are now increasingly viewed as potential risks to independence and national security. Infrastructure and supply chains are being used as instruments of geostrategic influence, as illustrated by the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment or the EU’s Global Gateway initiative – both responses to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Trade and industrial policy increasingly serve as extensions of security policy by other means. Protectionism – through sanctions, export controls, and investment screening – has become the new normal.

And what about business? In an era in which tariffs and financial instruments are turning into geoeconomic weapons, a new mindset is taking hold. For me, too, this has meant rethinking long familiar assumptions. During the long era of globalization, with its transnational markets and institutions, corporate action operated under the primacy of efficiency. Now, resilience is emerging as an additional strategic benchmark.

A new paradigm for corporate action

Security is becoming an ever greater cost and steering factor in global value chains. Resilience, security, autonomy: under this banner, companies must increasingly reconfigure their procurement and sales markets – through multisourcing, regionalization, and re- , near- , or friendshoring. These principles must also guide production decisions: maintaining redundant structures, distributing sites across multiple countries, and broadening and decarbonizing the energy and feedstock base.

And that is not all. Cross cutting risks are increasingly spilling over into the corporate world and becoming more tangible at the political and societal levels. Hybrid threats such as cyber attacks, sabotage, and disinformation; environmental risks such as the planetary triple crisis of climate change, resource depletion, and pollution; and the volatility of global financial and currency markets – all of these factors make the economy systemically more vulnerable and require strategic responses.

Internally, the key priority is to firmly anchor resilience as a board level and governance issue. Externally, the importance of the economy – and particularly the basic materials industries – for the security and resilience of countries and alliances such as the European Union cannot be overstated.

Chemicals as a system critical sector

The chemical sector forms the foundation of nearly every value chain and plays an essential role in sectors such as energy, mobility, healthcare, infrastructure, and defense. It is also a driving force for climate neutrality and the circular economy. After all, the green transformation itself contributes to resilience, security, and autonomy – something we must not lose sight of amid the many acute global crises.

A strong industrial base – capable of future oriented innovation and driving domestic investment – must remain a central pillar in safeguarding and expanding national capacity to act. At the same time, I caution against excessive renationalization of economic activity. Innovation, investment, and value creation thrive only through openness, exchange, and cooperation.

Accordingly, the international system must evolve along two tracks: by forging new rule based alliances with those who share similar interests and perspectives, and by engaging confidently with systemic rivals, while keeping doors open. What we need are fair, resilient markets with clear rules – not arbitrary walls.