It is not really a "fear" index they just call it that because typically in TradFi volatility is a "dirty" word.

Historically, in traditional capital markets volatility is associated with risk.

In crypto people love volatility but that is very unique to crypto.

I am not sure how much global stuff is actually impacting markets. Most financial news is nonsense and primarily entertainment.

Like if you look at the S&P over a long period of time most of the big moments in history end up being pretty insignificant.