This article is based on the updated ASAE ForesightWorks Driver of Change, Global Power Shifts, and reflects insights gathered during two analysis sessions with association professionals who explored new forecasts, trends, and strategic insights. Their perspectives directly informed the themes, risks, and strategic considerations presented below.

The long-standing world order that provided a predictable playbook, business stability, and operational certainty is shifting. Power is diffusing away from the U.S. and Europe toward emerging economies, while technology, especially artificial intelligence, is empowering individuals and nonstate actors to influence global outcomes. The result is a volatile, multipolar environment where the rules are evolving and associations must adapt to remain relevant and trusted. For association leaders, this new reality demands skills and competencies that balance agility with integrity, navigate complexity, and embrace diverse cultures and ideologies.

Cultural Fluency and Strategic Agility

As global disruption grows, associations increasingly operate across regions with distinct and changing cultural norms, political expectations, and regulatory systems. Leaders can no longer assume a Western-centric approach will serve all members. Instead, they must navigate multiple truths and represent their organizations credibly in settings where cultural assumptions diverge. Building cultural fluency, cultivating diverse networks, and rethinking governance structures will be critical. Cultural fluency encompasses broad understanding of how values, institutional frameworks, and communications differ across societies. Networks should include local advisors and partners in each region to interpret rapidly changing dynamics, while governance structures should integrate voices from multiple geographies and perspectives.

The global environment is now defined by interconnected risks—including geopolitical tensions, climate change, cybersecurity threats, and shifting trade policies—that can spread rapidly across borders. Association leaders should assess how economic, political, and technological factors interact, anticipating how shocks in one area might affect their industry or profession. Given the increased potential for disruption, agility becomes a core leadership skill: Leaders must be ready to adjust strategies and tactics quickly, sometimes without complete information, while ensuring organizational consistency and mission alignment. Scenario-based planning, which explores multiple plausible futures simultaneously, can help associations prepare for uncertainty.

Transparency, Inclusivity, and Neutrality

In a world of fractured alliances and polarized debates, associations have the opportunity to fill gaps left by declining global institutions and act as neutral conveners. Their ability to create safe spaces for diverse stakeholders supports the development of ethical frameworks, standards, and guidance for emerging technologies such as AI.

To do this credibly, leaders should visibly commit to transparency, inclusivity, and neutrality. Associations perceived as politically biased or aligned with a single nation’s agenda risk eroding trust. Leaders must ensure their organizational positions are mission-aligned and grounded in shared member values rather than geopolitical interests.

Digital Security and Risk Management

As technological and geopolitical risks multiply, leaders must augment their risk management focus to include digital security and data governance. Cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and data breaches are increasingly routine threats. Associations should incorporate cyber and geopolitical risk assessments into regular audits and train staff in safe digital practices.

Risk management also includes safeguarding member and staff personal safety, operational resilience, assets, and reputation. Leaders need to plan for scenarios such as political unrest, event disruptions, or interruptions to cross-border data flows. Protecting these elements helps preserve organizational assets, such as intellectual property and personnel, as well as member trust.

In an environment where narratives can shift overnight, association leaders must be adept at adapting communications in real time while maintaining clarity, consistency, and cultural awareness in ways that reinforce the association’s core values, neutrality, and shared purpose. Understanding how global developments affect every message, event, or product is essential to protecting the brand.

Talent Management

Competition for global talent is intensifying as emerging economies expand education and credentialing systems, challenging the dominance of U.S.-based institutions. Association leaders will need to understand these dynamics and adapt talent strategies, including collaborating with emerging knowledge centers or partnering on multinational credentialing systems that enable international mobility. Associations that build alliances across borders through federations, joint initiatives, or networks will be better positioned to shape global standards and advance their missions.

Commit to Developing New Competencies

The decline of a U.S.-led global order and the rise of multipolar power structures are reshaping economies, governance, and the role of associations themselves. Intentional, ongoing plans to develop leadership competencies for both staff and volunteers will be essential for navigating these changes and sustaining organizational relevance.

ASAE’s ForesightWorks driver of change, Global Power Shifts, has been newly released with updated forecasts, strategic insights, and recommended actions. You can purchase the updated driver as part of the Just the Updates: Fall 2025 collection. If you already own the Essentials Collection, the new version will appear automatically in your member account.