Governments typically provide stability and security. Armies patrol borders and police maintain order in streets. Judicial systems relocate violent criminals from neighborhoods to jails. To be sure, these responsibilities remain those of the political sector. Yet, in a complex world defined by cross-cutting commercial relationships in addition to geopolitical boundaries, governments are not the only organizations impacting social affairs. With communication technologies and travel capability making global interaction the norm, the institutions responsible for globalization impact a variety of relationships. Corporations shrink the world by commercially linking regions and people that might not otherwise be linked. This book suggests that in doing so, corporations may be able to orient their affairs to contribute to peace.

The claim that business might contribute to peace is not without controversy. As further discussed in chapter 1, there have been many protests against the unfairness of globalization. One view is that corporations are selfish organizations that undermine a sense of citizenship. From this perspective, the notion that business may build peace is startling.

For example, the media and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) recently focused on a particularly controversial interaction of economic profitability and violence involving the mining of diamonds in Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to some reports, terrorist units have used funds from the sale of conflict diamonds to purchase weapons and other materials essential for carrying on violent campaigns.