ABSTRACT
Many corporations, particularly those that are involved in the extraction of natural resources, find themselves operating in areas of instability and violence. Few corporate managers have any training in conflict resolution or any experience of how to function productively in a violent context. There is a great deal of evidence that company managers have much more control over conflict and violence than they believe. This is true even in societies where violence predates the company's arrival. There are essentially four different situations that confront company managers: wars and insurrections; company becoming a proxy target for community grievances against the government; inter-communal tensions; and company-community conflict. Corporations can become the proxy targets for community grievances against their government. These grievances typically center on the national government's failure to provide social services or the lack of revenue flows back to communities where resources are being extracted.
