Business and Conflict in Fragile States: The Case for Pragmatic Solutions by Brian Ganson & Achim Wennmann

Author:Brian Ganson & Achim Wennmann [Ganson, Brian & Wennmann, Achim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Political Science, General
ISBN: 9780429626753
Google: atNyDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 30409742
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-06-03T00:00:00+00:00

Disconnect between international discourse and the strategic landscape

The complex dynamics of multinational companies within fragile state socio-political systems underline the fact that international actors must look far beyond the traditional focus on inter- and intra-state wars to address conflict and violence. To a limited extent, this has been recognised in emergent international policy and practice. The International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability – a framework for environmental and social risk management – have adopted from international development practice the commitment to ‘do no harm to people and the environment … to achieve positive development outcomes’, and to ensure that ‘the costs of economic development do not fall disproportionately on those who are poor or vulnerable’.90 Its first performance standard, ‘Assessment and management of environmental and social risks and impacts’, now incorporates the ‘due diligence’ logic of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The ‘Respect’ pillar of these Ruggie Principles requires ‘A human rights due-diligence process to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their impacts on human rights’.91 There is, however, a significant disconnect between these largely aspirational norms and standards, and experience on the ground.

While many point to a lack of willingness by international companies to respect these standards as the primary reason for this disconnect, perhaps a less obvious factor is the lack of corporate capabilities. Mary Anderson, an authority on outside intervention in conflict-prone environments, noted that ‘peace is not an area for amateurs’.92 For companies to effectively apply such principles, they must ‘perform accurate and up-to-date conflict analysis; establish comfortable, trusting, and transparent relationships with diverse people who may not share their values; use specialized mediation skills to identify common concerns that can unite antagonists while also respecting fundamental differences and opposing positions; and have the ability to be calm and comfortable in situations of danger, threat, and emotional and physical stress’. In what is perhaps a pronounced understatement, she concludes that these ‘are not common, everyday skills found among corporate managers’.93 Anderson’s comments echo studies suggesting that global companies require business competencies in areas in which most managers have no background or training, including the competencies needed to deal with foreign country interests, multiple domestic and foreign pressure groups, or international conflict.94 Furthermore, attempts to outsource these functions result in a kind of corporate dyspraxia, in which companies fail to act effectively even on known risks to their own security or economic interests, due to governance and management systems failures.95

The more important disconnect between international policy and practice and business-related conflicts on the ground – including efforts to restrain predatory international companies, to promote private-sector investment for security and development, and the emerging discourse on ‘due diligence’ and ‘do no harm’ – may lie in the nature of international policy formation itself. Even as the landscape of business and conflict changes substantially, and the actors become more numerous and more diverse, international discourse and its policy expressions focus on agreement among actors at the international level, working to coordinate actions only among the most accessible and most willing players.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.