Overview

The intersection of business, peace and sustainable development is becoming an increasingly powerful space, and is already beginning to show the capability to drive major global change. This book deciphers how different forms of corporate engagement in the pursuit of peace and development have different impacts and outcomes. It looks specifically at how the private sector can better deliver peace contributions in fragile, violent and conflict settings and then at the deeper consequences of this agenda upon businesses, governments, international institutions and not least the local communities that are presumed to be the beneficiaries of such actions. It is the first book to compile the state-of-the-field in one place and is therefore an essential guide for students, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners on the role of business in peace. Without cross-disciplinary engagement, it is hard to identify where the cutting edge truly lies, and how to take the topic forward in a more systematic manner. This edited book brings together thought leaders in the field and pulls disparate strands together from business ethics, management, international relations, peace and conflict studies in order to better understand how businesses can contribute to peacebuilding and sustainable development. Before businesses take a deeper role in the most complicated and risky elements of sustainable development, we need to be able to better explain what works, why it works, and what effective business efforts for peace and development mean for the multilateral institutional frameworks. This book does just that.

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9780367175061

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Reviews

This edited volume is a very welcome contribution to the interdisciplinary theme of business, peace and development. With both theoretical and empirical chapters that cover different parts of the world and various topics, it offers food for thought and insights relevant to a range of audiences, including researchers, policy-makers, activists, managers, investors and staff of international (non-)governmental organizations. I hope it will draw further attention to this topic that is so important for business and society, and for local populations in particular, and that deserves more dedicated and in-depth investigation. Prof. Ans Kolk, University of Amsterdam If PEACE coins the optimal environment for the human potential to flourish, business surely has an instrumental role to play. But, as this important book sets out, business doing good or avoid doing harm, does not necessarily add up to peace. Business does not exist in a vacuum, but in an interlinked symbiose with society, conditioned on trust and public confidence. These supports well the broadened mindset now evolving in sophisticated business leadership. We call it businessworthy leadership. As business seeks to adjust to the complexity, volatility and risks of conflicts deriving from simultaneous acceleration of technology, globalization and climate change, we must bring the front line of academic thinking and business together to inform mindset and action that enhance peace. This book is an important contribution. This book demonstrates the need for system thinking, analysis, strategic engagement and a longer-term approach. It presents some strong corporate perspectives and empirical reflections. Per Saxegaard, Founder, Business for Peace Foundation Though war and peace are matters of state, business cannot adopt a disinterested posture when it comes to operating or investing in conflict zones. Armed conflict is a business risk. But beyond the immediate financial implications, it raises fundamental issues of corporate citizenship: when is a company complicit in conflict or its causes? Could it alleviate the ills of war? Should it withdraw from a conflict zone or stay put, for what reasons and under what kind of operating guidelines? Rarely are there clear-cut answers, but rather difficult dilemmas requiring well-informed decision-making and a firm moral compass calibrated by the limits of what is possible. Conducting business in a war situation puts the spotlight on the boundary between realism and idealism. This book is an intellectual tool for CEOs and investors facing armed conflict or situations where they can help prevent conflict. Carlos Joly, Co-Chair of Expert Group on the UN Principles of Responsible Investment and fellow, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership The role of business in peacebuilding has been the subject of active discussion (and some controversy) over the past two decades. The adoption of SDG 16 has further fueled this issue. However, much of the discussion and analysis has been at the theoretical and (arguably) rhetorical level. The contributions in this book cast a critical eye to this body of work and bring to life real world examples of where business has contributed to peace and where real challenges still lay. Reg Manhas, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Kosmos Energy

This edited volume is a very welcome contribution to the interdisciplinary theme of business, peace and development. With both theoretical and empirical chapters that cover different parts of the world and various topics, it offers food for thought and insights relevant to a range of audiences, including researchers, policy-makers, activists, managers, investors and staff of international (non-)governmental organizations. I hope it will draw further attention to this topic that is so important for business and society, and for local populations in particular, and that deserves more dedicated and in-depth investigation. Professor Ans Kolk, University of Amsterdam If PEACE coins the optimal environment for the human potential to flourish, business surely has an instrumental role to play. But, as this important book sets out, business doing good or avoiding doing harm, does not necessarily add up to peace. Business does not exist in a vacuum, but in an interlinked symbiosis with society, conditioned on trust and public confidence. This supports well the broadened mindset now evolving in sophisticated business leadership. We call it businessworthy leadership. As business seeks to adjust to the complexity, volatility and risks of conflicts deriving from the simultaneous acceleration of technology, globalization and climate change, we must bring the front lines of academic thinking and business together to inform mindsets and action that enhance peace. This book is an important contribution. This book demonstrates the need for system thinking, analysis, strategic engagement and a longer-term approach. It presents some strong corporate perspectives and empirical reflections. Per Saxegaard, Founder, Business for Peace Foundation Though war and peace are matters of state, business cannot adopt a disinterested posture when it comes to operating or investing in conflict zones. Armed conflict is a business risk. But beyond the immediate financial implications, it raises fundamental issues of corporate citizenship: when is a company complicit in conflict or its causes? Could it alleviate the ills of war? Should it withdraw from a conflict zone or stay put, for what reasons and under what kind of operating guidelines? Rarely are there clear-cut answers, but rather difficult dilemmas requiring well-informed decision-making and a firm moral compass calibrated by the limits of what is possible. Conducting business in a war situation puts the spotlight on the boundary between realism and idealism. This book is an intellectual tool for CEOs and investors facing armed conflict or situations where they can help prevent conflict. Carlos Joly, Co-Chair of Expert Group on the UN Principles of Responsible Investment and fellow, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership The role of business in peacebuilding has been the subject of active discussion (and some controversy) over the past two decades. The adoption of SDG 16 has further fueled this issue. However, much of the discussion and analysis has been at the theoretical and (arguably) rhetorical level. The contributions in this book cast a critical eye to this body of work and bring to life real world examples of where business has contributed to peace and where real challenges still lay. Reg Manhas, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Kosmos Energy

Author Information

Jason Miklian is a Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo and a postdoctoral fellow in business and peacebuilding at the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo. Rina M. Alluri is Senior Researcher at the University of Zurich Geography Department and co-founder and consultant at the World Habitat Research and Creativity Network (WHRC). John E. Katsos is an Associate Professor of Management at the American University of Sharjah, UAE.

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