Violent political events are up dramatically over the last year with one in four global organizations feeling the impact, as reported in the latest edition of the 2017 Clements Worldwide Risk Index (CWRI).

The survey, compiled twice each year, found the number of organizations suffering the effects of a political violence event nearly doubled from a year ago, up 90 percent over the Clements report issued last spring.

Also troubling was the finding that more of these events were noted in Europe, rather than the usual hot spots in the Middle East or Africa. Nearly 23 percent of respondents said they experienced political violence in Europe, while 21 percent reported impacts in the Middle East and just over 17 percent noted troubles in Africa.

France, Germany, and Brussels all made international headlines in 2016 when terrorists launched attacks that killed or harmed innocent people and paralyzed entire nations.

“It appears that violent political events such as terrorism, war, riots, civil unrest, and labor strikes are occurring more frequently, and are no longer isolated to known, politically unstable areas on the globe,” said Chris Beck, President of Clements Worldwide. “These trends make a clear case for organizations everywhere to take steps in advance to prepare in the event their region becomes the unexpected target of protests or worse.”

The leading concern for businesses when it came to political violence was the uncertainty around elections and protests associated with voting. Some 27.2 percent of respondents said they were worried about the effect of elections in countries where they operate, up from 19.1 percent the year before.

The probability of more conflict seems likely given what has happened in recent weeks, and elections on the schedule this year. Important elections taking place this year include the Netherlands General Election, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Election, France’s Presidential Election, Rwanda and Kenya general elections in August, and China’s Politburo Selection and Thailand’s General Election in late 2017.