NewsWeek International, Monday, January 24th, 2000
The challenge facing those gathered in Davos is to bring some hope to a world in conflict where animosities continue to plague us. Recent images of hatred and senseless violence remind us of how far we still have to go. And in many cases, political mediation between those who have hated each other has not yielded long-lasting solutions.
I believe that the private sector can do far more than is appreciated to bring former adversaries together. Cooperation in search of a profit can cement relations among bitter rivals. In our world, business is the driving force for change-whether for good or bad, the profit incentive fuels today’s society. That gives the business community an enormous power; but also, arguably, a duty, to use the magic of market forces to heal broken communities.
This is the premise of PeaceWorks, an American company formed in 1994 to promote peace through business, and which fosters co-existence initiatives in conflict regions worldwide. PeaceWorks acts as a catalyst to ensure the birth and success of companies and products manufactured through joint ventures among neighbors striving to co-exist.
Some examples: Moshe & Ali’s all-natural Mediterranean and Middle Eastern spreads, made by an Israeli factory that purchases its raw materials and packaging from its Arab neighbors; specialty cookies made in a South African factory that empowers and trains its black workers; and roasted coffee grown in the war-torn Mexican state of Chiapas by a cooperative of 1,000 indigenous farmers from seven rival tribes.
The intuition behind our mission is straightforward; most people want peace, and to focus on providing a better future for their children. It is the same instinct that was behind the Marshall Plan and the creation of the World Bank more than fifty years ago. But using business in the service of peace and reconciliation goes with the grain of our own times. Whereas radicals in the 1960’s challenged the status quo through revolution, the 1990’s bred practical idealists determined to embrace technology and market forces to change the system from within. Generations X and Y are full of dreamers and idealists that want to make this a better world; but they are also proud capitalists that will use the tools of commerce to help them achieve their goal.
Still, there are many hurdles ahead. Using business to heal conflicts is harder in areas where little intra-regional trade takes place, which makes effective intervention in Africa and the Middle East more difficult. And outfits like ours are both young and small. Many more companies, especially leading multinationals, will need to incorporate business-of-cooperation efforts before they really develop the scale that can have a real impact for the good. Forces of hatred have powerful weapons that can easily overshadow the efforts of the business community. In November 1997, the Middle East North Africa Summit in Doha brought together thousands of business leaders seeking to break barriers and rebuild the region. While the conference was taking place, terrorists in Luxor massacred 22 tourists. Tourism, which is among the top two sources of revenue for the Egyptian economy, declined precipitously; hotel vacancies in Cairo grew from 14 percent before the massacre to over 75 percent a week thereafter.
Even without aggressors, implementing the business of cooperation is not easy. Unless relations are symmetric and equal, business interaction can exacerbate pre-existing conflicts by furthering stereotypes and resentment. Furthermore, daily commercial interaction does not alone warrant co-existence and cooperation.
The pre-war Yugoslav economy was relatively integrated, yet it was destroyed amid ethnic and religious antagonism. At all levels, the efforts of businesses need to be buttressed by education and concerted efforts to engender mutual understanding.
Still, I believe the risks are worth taking. The core attraction of our model is that making more profits helps make more peace. The more market growth and the greater the sales of the "fruits of cooperation" sold former enemies working together, the more coexistence we foster. Indeed, businesses that work with the forces of cooperation can secure significant competitive advantages. Working in conflict regions has its challenges, to be sure; but it has advantages too, among them competitive sourcing and pricing, and eager trading partners.
Above all, we have found that our mission attracts and retains the very best people-men and women looking for meaning in their work. Employees cherish participating in ventures that are both profitable and contribute towards improving the state of the world. Consumers reward us with loyalty and almost fanatic support; we find that they frequently demand that local stores carry our products. We know from experience that consumers purchase first what fits their lifestyle; they would not choose a product they do not need even if it had been made by Mother Theresa. But if the quality of the product is right, many consumers will avidly choose a product made by a socially-conscious company over an alternative.
The business of cooperation is a young movement. But it is creating an army of consumers, traders and entrepreneurs who will fight with their pockets and their skills to enrich them and their neighbors-in more than one sense. The leaders of the mighty corporations gathered in Davos this week could do worse than learn from our success.