• You see it in the Conservative Party's long-foreseen inability to back a reasonably negotiated Brexit deal from Prime Minister Theresa May — while simultaneously refusing to trigger a leadership contest that could inject fresh thinking.
• You see it in an opposition Labour Party that's ruled by the far left at the grassroots but mostly center-left in government, creating an untenable dichotomy that's left it unable to present a clear alternative to May.
• You see it in the actions of Northern Ireland's conservative Democratic Unionist Party and the leftist Scottish National Party, whose existential mandates logically require them to be beholden to both political ideology and their respective parts of the U.K.

The Conservative state of play: Dozens of members of the arch-Brexiteer European Research Group voted against May's deal for Brexit — a policy outcome to which many have dedicated decades of their political lives.

• May steered toward the center ground with her "soft Brexit" Chequers plan last year. That lost her the support of key Brexiteer Cabinet secretaries David Davis and Boris Johnson but netted no political wins, or Labour votes, setting up her brutal defeat this week.

The Labour state of play: The New York Times has an excellent piece on the political dilemma currently facing Labour's leader, Jeremy Corbyn, a far-left Eurosceptic leading a party increasingly split along socioeconomic lines.

• "Should they stand up for open borders and multiculturalism and risk cutting loose white workers who have drifted to the anti-immigrant right? Or try winning back those voters with a liberal version of the fight against global institutions, trade pacts and migration?"

What's next: If the parties in power can't agree to some sort of deal, there's been talk of a second referendum to determine what's next for Brexit — but that presents its own mess of polarized problems because no one has any idea what the choices should be.

• Those on the left will argue that "remain" has to be an option — and say that the political difficulties outlined above weren't originally clear to voters — while the right argues that the decision to leave is final.
• Those on the far-right will argue that a clean, "no deal" Brexit should be an option — despite the economic issues that it could bring — which would split Brexit supporters if paired with a softer option, possibly allowing "remain" to prevail.

The bottom line: There's little support in Westminster for a "no deal" Brexit, but with the deadline approaching and the sides as far apart as ever, the U.K. could well stumble over that cliff's edge on March 29.

Go deeper: Brexit's future looks murkier than ever

The good:

• The analysis views tension surrounding global trade as one of the biggest, likeliest threats facing world markets, but it sees the U.S. as an increasingly stable player. The recent agreements with Mexico and the EU on trade make it seem like President Trump is attempting to salvage — or at least work to reform — America's trade deals with its core allies.
• The biggest threat on the board — a complete breakdown between Russia and NATO — remains the least likely to take place, even as heightened tensions continue to grab headlines worldwide.

The bad:

• Economic relations between the U.S. and China are not good — and steadily worsening, especially given the latest trade war salvo between the two nations. The analysis views continued tensions here as the market's most likely disruptor. And because the issue is so intertwined with the North Korea conflict, there are multiple ways for it to potentially boil over.
• Emerging countries are marked by continued upheaval. Some, like Brazil and Mexico, are set or likely to have populist leaders in place soon. And Turkey is facing a continued currency crash and isolation from the international sphere amid the increasingly authoritarian rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The bottom line: BlackRock's risk measure is notably volatile. Take a look: The markets viewed the world's geopolitical risks as above-average back in June during the height of the uncertainty surrounding North Korea. Things have trended downward significantly since then on more positive news, but we live in an age when 280 characters can turn the world on its head.Go deeper: Take a look at the full report, which includes detailed analyses of what BlackRock has deemed the 10 greatest geopolitical risks.

• May also said that she's "a little bit irritated" at the rumors of a leadership challenge from within her party ranks as she attempts to negotiate a Brexit solution. But today's statements aren't likely to make life easier for her on that front. The Chequers plan forced high-profile resignations from the most visible Brexiteers in her Cabinet, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis, upon its announcement.

Never one to keep quiet, Johnson fired back in his weekly column in The Telegraph, headlined, "We are heading for a car crash Brexit under Theresa May's Chequers plan."

• "The whole thing is a constitutional abomination, and if Chequers were adopted it would mean that for the first time since 1066 our leaders were deliberately acquiescing in foreign rule."

At issue is the Irish backstop — determining the economic alignment between Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and Ireland, which is a member of the EU — and whether there would be a hard border between the two areas after Brexit.

• May is adamant that a hard border cannot be allowed, advocating for "friction-free" movement of goods enabled by close economic ties to the EU. She told the BBC, "The only proposal that has been put forward that delivers on them not having that hard border and ensures that we don't carve up the United Kingdom is the Chequers plan."
• Boris argued in his column that Chequers undermines the fundamental aim of Brexit: "We are volunteering that the whole of the U.K. must remain effectively in the customs union and large parts of the single market until Brussels says otherwise."
• Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, blasted the Chequers' Irish backstop plan earlier this month: "If we let the British pick the raisins out of our rules, that would have serious consequences."

The bottom line: While it seems that May has finally upped the ante on Brexit, both her Conservative Party and the EU are in strong positions to call her bluff moving forward.