The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and U.S. Army War College are warning that protests are possible in the U.S. and throughout the world. At this time, there has been more concern about civil unrest in the U.S. due to the economy than actual unrest. There have been crimes that have been attributed to the worsening economy, but only a few, small-scale protests. (less than a thousand people in Massachusetts, New York)

Small scale lawlessness that might be considered "civil unrest" are the vandalization for resale of homes that have been abandoned or foreclosed upon. There has also been squatting in these homes. In Arizona, police are being trained to cope with civil unrest due to economic conditions.

Worldwide:
1000,000 turned out in Ireland on Saturday to protest the government's handling of the recession. Specifically, they were against levying pensions on public sector employees.

Iceland has had protests/riots in November as their economy tanked, which some newspapers have called "precursors" to potential U.S. unrest.

In France, more than a million protestors marched for increased job security in January and against the bailout of "reckless banks".

In Greece, farmers blocked the roads protesting declining ag prices. Farmers also protested in Bulgaria and Latvia.

There are concerns that there will be demonstrations against financial institutions in Britain at the April G20 meeting in London and through this summer.

The Tea Party protests are growing as a response to the economic situation. The phenomenon is focused within the United States and revolves around populist backlash against the stimulus package and President Obama's economic policies in response to the present crisis.