ABSTRACT
This book was written by an American in the second term of the Bush administration, but no single mention has been made of the possibility of business-based peacebuilding related to the war in Iraq. Truthfully, this absence is probably motivated in part by a distaste for the war itself and the methods through which it has been pursued with some level of embarrassment for those involved. This, however, is not a reasonable reason to ignore a conflict. To some extent, Iraq would provide a good test for business-based peacebuilding approaches. On first glance, the conflict would appear hostile to efforts by external business actors. How then would one go about designing a peacebuilding program with businesses to resolve current conflicts in Iraq? Was there any potential for having used a business-based approach before now to limit the destruction caused by the conflict? The answer to these questions might depend on how we define the conflict in Iraq. It is a conflict between the US-led coalition forces and insurgents? Or an internal conflict between ethnic and religious groups within the context of a significant American pullout? The prospects for business-based peacebuilding to address Iraqi-American conflict are slim. First, there are very few international companies to engage. The international companies that are present in the country are primarily there to either support the occupation or to participate in the oil industry. Those there supporting the military should be ruled out due to their conflict of interest. From an international business perspective, that would leave oil companies. Companies from the extractive industries have been successful in other contexts, but it would likely be difficult for these companies to be taken as credible and sincere. The animosity toward foreign forces seems to also apply to external companies as well. If
these companies were to work on improving their image with Iraqis, it would be for their own sake and not for the sake of peace. If they were to take conflict-related actions, these would probably relate to the do-no-harm approach more than true peacebuilding. Envisioning an Iraq without a large American presence, but still containing a non-trivial amount of violence, does appear to open some space for business-based peacebuilding. In this situation, foreign companies would still likely face credibility problems, but peacebuilding focused on the support and creation of local business would be a possibility. The approach with the most potential would be something like promoting entrepreneurship and exchange within communities to promote a return to normalcy. This approach would need to be carefully limited to areas where some stability and reasonable security has been established. It would be useless in neighborhoods where people are afraid to leave their homes. If there is one thing working in favor of this kind of approach, it is that many Iraqis can remember a time of relative commercial prosperity. Of course life under Saddam Hussein was not perfect and the economic condition of the country suffered greatly with the imposition of sanctions after Iraq’s invasion of and repulsion from Kuwait, but at least in this case the commercial and business system of Iraq at this point needs to be recreated, not created from whole cloth. This is a significant advantage. The existence of successful overseas Iraqis could also provide substantial assistance. The fact that business-based peacebuilding may not be appropriate in this particular conflict, at this particular time, should not be taken as an indictment on the approach itself as it represents only one option for conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
