(FORTUNE Magazine) – The Soviet upheaval is an unsettling reminder that political instability goes hand in hand with global business. Business Risks International (BRI), a Nashville company that specializes in security consulting, reports that more terrorist acts occurred in July than in any month since 1970, when the firm began tracking them. Among the politically inspired incidents in this year's first seven months: BRI counts 1,236 bombings, 382 assassinations, and 103 kidnappings worldwide. Religious and ethnic minorities everywhere have become more restless. Says BRI manager of risk assessments Gene Mastrangelo: ''Targeting Western business is an easy way to make a statement, sure to get publicity, and damaging to a local economy.'' In Peru, the top trouble spot for business (see table), the Maoist group Shining Path and the Communist Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement are fighting the economic austerity (labeled ''Fujishock'') imposed by President Alberto Fujimori, who was born in Peru of Japanese parents. The Shining Path recently killed three Japanese, prompting Japan to pull some nationals out of the country. . Now Peruvian insurgents are venting their anger at other capitalist symbols, such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut. Says Mastrangelo: ''We call it 'logo targeting.' '' Even if your company is not a logo target and you're just an innocent traveler, it still pays to know the danger zones so that you can avoid them.

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