Introduction

In the contemporary world, international mobility cannot be interpreted as a neutral or merely ancillary function. Traveling—especially to countries characterized by political instability, latent conflicts, endemic crises, or open geopolitical rivalries—means exposing oneself to a plurality of risks that go beyond the physical dimension. In this context, travel security emerges as a strategic field that integrates due diligence, intelligence, historical analysis, and geopolitical assessment, becoming central for companies, institutions, and religious communities.
The theme of devotion introduces a further level of complexity. Religious or symbolic journeys are not simple movements. They activate identity narratives, historical memories, and power dynamics. In geopolitically high-risk countries, therefore, devotion becomes a tool, an additional factor of vulnerability, transforming the pilgrim into an involuntary actor within political, military, and social tensions.

A Historical Continuity

History demonstrates that devotional journeys have always been intrinsically risky, since ancient times. In the medieval period, for example, pilgrims and missionaries—both along the great routes such as the Via Francigena and across more diversified internal and external spaces—moved through fragmented territories often lacking stable central authority. Control of sacred routes and protection of travelers were instruments of political legitimization; guaranteeing security, often through armed escorts, meant demonstrating power.
The dimension of risk, as well as the constant crises caused by wars, famines, and cyclical epidemics, was not an anomaly but a constant. Brigandage, local wars or broader conflicts, subsequent religious persecutions, made travel effectively dangerous and, in a certain sense—given the risks and variables—an act of faith in itself, not limited solely to arrival at the shrine. This historical legacy, characteristic of the Middle Ages and definable at least until the seventeenth century with the ritual and noble celebration of devotion also as an instrument of power and communication, has now transformed. Violence and risk in contemporary times, except in extreme cases, are less latent but more structured, and prevention practices—just as travel methods and technologies evolve—have likewise developed.

Geopolitically High-Risk Countries: Transnational Devotion as Symbolic Exposure

In contested countries, the presence of pilgrims or religious travelers assumes a value that goes beyond the private sphere. Devotion is interpreted as a political signal with significant international weight. This phenomenon is particularly evident in contexts where the sacred is closely intertwined with conflict. Notable examples in recent years have occurred systematically in Jerusalem, for instance following restrictions on access to sacred complexes, triggering tensions, or more striking cases in Nigeria due to jihadist terrorism, such as direct attacks on religious minorities. More recently, in January, again in Nigeria, terrorist attacks resulted in dozens of deaths and the kidnapping of 86 worshippers, who were subsequently released.

Middle East
In various areas of the Middle East, places of worship represent sensitive nodes of unresolved and endemic conflicts. Episodes of violence against pilgrims, arbitrary restrictions on access, and preventive arrests of foreign visitors demonstrate how devotion is constantly exposed to geopolitical risk. In some cases, armed groups have used the presence of worshippers as a tool of political pressure or as a means of propaganda, thus transforming pilgrimage into a high-risk act.
In the case of the Holy Land, devotional mobility is embedded in a highly complex stratification of centuries-old historical conflict, religious, anthropological, and systemic memory. The holy sites present there, belonging to three different religions—such as the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque—are not only places of worship, but above all sites of great symbolism, arenas of identity, national and religious competition, and consequently critically sensitive locations.

South Asia
In South Asian countries, pilgrimages to shrines located in unstable regions have repeatedly attracted attacks or violent actions. In contexts marked by insurgencies or interreligious tensions, large devotional gatherings have been perceived as symbolic targets. Episodes of attacks on convoys of pilgrims or sudden blockages of routes show how vulnerability is often underestimated in the name of tradition.

Sub-Saharan Africa
In several regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, missionaries and pilgrims have over the years been victims of kidnappings for political or economic purposes. In these cases, devotion directly exposes individuals to risk: religious affiliation and foreign origin—often from European areas—increase the symbolic and political value of the kidnapping or attack. Such episodes highlight how risk is not only individual but systemic, and how travel security must address not exclusively state actors, but equally highly organized non-state actors.

Eastern Europe and Areas of Latent Conflict
Even in Europe, in areas marked by latent conflicts or geopolitical tensions in the eastern region, devotion can become a risk factor. Visits to monasteries or sacred sites located in contested territories have exposed travelers to surveillance, interrogations, expulsions, or hostile media campaigns. In these contexts, risk is often informational and reputational, yet no less significant.

Due Diligence Applied to Devotional Travel Abroad

Risk management in devotional travel to high-risk countries requires specific due diligence that takes into account the symbolic dimension of the journey. It is not sufficient to assess infrastructure security or the apparent stability of the context. One must consider how the journey may be perceived locally and what narratives and operational criticalities may emerge.

4.1. Due Diligence Protocol
In such contexts, due diligence must include:

• Analysis of the political framework and latent tensions;
• Assessment of local religious dynamics;
• Identification of periods of high symbolic sensitivity;
• Study of historical precedents of violence or repression.

Intelligence plays a crucial interpretative role. Understanding a context means knowing the memories of conflict, the wounds still open, and the undeclared red lines. History provides a systemic and relevant outline of recurring patterns, such as attacks during religious festivities, instrumentalization of foreign pilgrims in various forms, sudden escalations linked to symbolic events.

4.2. Operational Travel Security Checklist in High-Risk Devotional Contexts
An essential checklist includes:

• Updated geopolitical analysis of the country and region;
• Assessment of the symbolic value of the journey;
• Identification of previous episodes of violence or repression;
• Cultural and behavioral preparation of travelers;
• Planning of alternative itineraries and flexible time windows;
• Discreet management of communications and group visibility;
• Reliable and non-politicized local contacts;
• Evacuation plans and incident response procedures;
• Constant monitoring of the context;
• Debriefing and post-travel analytical updates;
• Capacity for adaptation and rapid response.

For companies and organizations operating in such devotional contexts, managing travel in high-risk devotional environments is not merely a moral obligation but a strategic responsibility. An incident involving even a single traveler in a contested and high-risk country can produce complex geopolitical, reputational, and legal consequences of broad scope. Travel security thus becomes an integral part of risk governance.

Conclusion: Between Devotion and Conscious Risk

Devotion, in the contemporary world, has not lost its dimension of risk. On the contrary, in a fragmented geopolitical context, it moves along unstable and critical fault lines of power, as other articles in Kriptia Magazine have expressed in previous contributions. Travel security today represents a rationalization of a peculiar experience of ancient origin and almost anthropological meaning. History in this context teaches that moving and traveling has always meant potential exposure to risk, and the journey has often been imbued with political and symbolic significance. Understanding the meaning of this particularity, especially under critical conditions, makes it possible to respect it and to prevent foreseeable risks and complex consequences.

Sources:
https://www.vaticannews.va/it/mondo/news/2026-02/nigeria-rilascio-rapiti-stato-kaduna-nuovi-attentati.html
https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/it/2014/07/25/news/terra-santa-il-dilemma-dei-pellegrini-1.35736767/
https://vocetempo.it/sospesi-non-cancellati-i-pellegrinaggi-in-terra-santa/
https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/mondo/mediooriente/2024/06/20/strage-dellhajj-si-punta-il-dito-sui-pellegrini-irregolari_1bcf52e5-0e82-4e28-a766-d2b38095f70a.html
https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/mondo/asia/2025/01/29/india-almeno-15-morti-in-ressa-durante-pellegrinaggio-indu_cb172194-5769-4998-8a2d-3d491c1fa543.html

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Massimiliano Spiga, Ph.D., is an Intelligence Analyst at Kriptia. He also serves as Director of the Scientific and Cultural Committee and Coordinator of the Observatory on Corporate Crime for Kriptia International. His interests, within Kriptia’s cultural and scientific framework, concern the balance between historical analysis, contemporary reflections, geopolitical and strategic considerations, with additional attention to information analysis and its management in relation to corporate security dynamics. He is currently also engaged in studying the relationship between companies and criminality, as well as conceptual analogies between early modern ambassadors and the contemporary figure of the manager.