The political landscape should be high on the risk radar of compliance officers in 2024—and not just regarding the United States.

About half the world’s population will vote this year, a data point cited by Michele Cahn, vice president, global government affairs, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and compliance at printing solutions company Xerox, during the annual leadership panel on emerging risks at Compliance Week’s National Conference in Washington, D.C. Cahn noted the war in Ukraine, fighting in the Middle East, and growing tensions with China as other examples of instability.

“The world is a very different place, and I think it’s difficult to predict what this election year is going to bring as well,” she said. “For us, we need to think carefully now about who our partners are, how are we vetting them, what our policies are, how are we doing third-party due diligence—areas … that we’re always very focused on but there’s a new heightened scrutiny to this.”

Cahn was joined on the panel by Peter Bernstein, senior managing counsel of competition law, compliance, and policy at credit card company Mastercard; James Griffin, vice president, risk and compliance, Americas, and global compliance operations at American Express Global Business Travel; and Carl Hahn, vice president, chief ethics and compliance officer at aerospace and defense company Northrop Grumman. Kristy Grant-Hart, chief executive officer of Spark Compliance Consulting, moderated the discussion.