Peace, in Theory

Theoretical support for these ventures comes from a report produced at the 2000 Annual Meeting of WEE A group of GLTs started the Business of Cooperation (BOC) Project to address the difficulty of building peace after war, and in its first report the group outlined the basic tenets of the theory of economic cooperation.

The BOC model is built on the idea that business can create the setting necessary to reach long-lasting social understanding and prosperity in conflict regions while simultaneously achieving its business objectives. It works at three levels. First, human interaction: when people work together under conditions of equality, they overcome cultural stereotypes. Second, commercial cooperation: all businesses profiting from joint ventures attain a fixed interest in preserving those business ties. And finally, regional participation: the people participating in joint ventures "gain a stake in the system," which eventually leads to even greater stability.

Essentially, the model establishes a connection between states and private-sector companies that secure employment and technology for the areas where they operate. Barilla, SDC, and PeaceWorks have all put this theory into practice; not only do they provide links between different groups of people that have been at odds with each other, but they also create local employment, technological development, and profits.

While there is some risk in creating partnerships and branches in conflict areas, there are certainly benefits to doing so. Because these businesses are viable joint ventures backed by the personal interests of each party, they are more likely to thrive, and the parent company will also share in this prosperity. Additionally, such ventures will increase innovation through the diversity of the people employed and raise employee performance, as people who see a greater purpose in their work usually work harder. Finally, a company that develops joint enterprises will cultivate the company image and gain international recognition, thus further boosting returns.

The BOC report outlines these potential gains, but it also warns of some difficulties in applying the model to real life. While it does seem feasible, the socioeconomic impact of the model is limited by the number of companies incorporating it into their operations framework. BOC committee members believe that before their model can have a powerful effect, it must reach "critical mass," with a sufficient number of corporations following its guidelines. The success of the model also depends on the assumption that joint business ventures are based on a relationship of equality between partners. If these relations are not rooted in an equal and honest alliance, the ventures may not succeed in alleviating the antagonism. Daily commercial interaction alone does not guarantee a peaceful coexistence, either. Widespread strife in the Middle East is largely a result of religious and cultural differences, which businesses may be hard-pressed to overcome.

Back to Reality

The latest spiral of deterioration in Israeli-Palestinian relations shows how far this theory must go to be able to tangibly effect peace. After a cycle of retaliatory attacks following then-- opposition leader Ariel Sharon's September 2000 march on the Arab holy site Temple Mount, talks have reached an impasse, and the possibility of reconciliation is daily becoming more distant. Ironically, with the election of Sharon as prime minister, the man who precipitated this downward path in Israeli-Palestinian relations will now be in charge of peacekeeping.

Clearly, the social benefits of joint ventures have a limited scope; they merely touch their local communities. But the failure of peace talks and negotiations only serves to emphasize that politics are not sufficient, and that the BOC model may indeed be one of the better ways to guide the Middle East and similiarly troubled regions to peace.

The emergence of the BOC and joint-venture companies signals a shift in the understanding of business and the purpose it can serve. Corporations such as Barilla, SDC, and PeaceWorks have begun a movement toward socially conscious enterprise that is much more dynamic and integrationist than any in the past. These companies illustrate that this duality of motive-of profit and peace-is beneficial to all parties involved. That the products of some of these companies already appear on the store shelves of far away places, from Israel to Puerto Rico, attests to, at the very least, the potential economic success of cooperation. With the support of international leaders and organizations such as the WEF, the BOC model gains credibility, but the realization of the ultimate goal of peace remains, for now, largely theoretical.