How Business Can Play a Role in Making Peace.
By Michael Posner
With public attention focused on Russian aggression in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, it is easy to lose sight of the many other violent conflicts that plague our planet. According to the Geneva Academy for International Humanitarian Law, there are currently more than 110 violent conflicts worldwide, a number that continues to grow.
In Sudan, a civil war erupted last year between rival elements of the military. The United Nations estimates that the clash has left 25 million people, half the country’s population, in need of urgent assistance; eight million have been forced to flee their homes in what has been called “the world’s largest displacement crisis.” Meanwhile, in Myanmar, more than 50,000 people have been killed and 2.3 million displaced since a violent military coup in 2021.
At a conference I attended in Berlin last week, 300 experts from around the world met to assess the effectiveness of peacemaking strategies relating to these and other conflicts. Organized by the Berghof Foundation, the meeting focused primarily on traditional peacemaking efforts led by government diplomats, usually working with the support of the United Nations.
Read the full Forbes article.
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Michael Posner is the Jerome Kohlberg Professor of Ethics and Finance, Professor of Business and Society and Director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.