Building and Breaking of Peace: Corporate Activities in Civil War Prevention and Resolution - Hardcover

by Molly M. Melin (Author)

Private corporations are rarely discussed as playing a role in efforts to curb civil violence, even though they often have strong interests in maintaining stability. Violence often damages the infrastructure necessary to deliver goods to market or may directly target companies. Corporations
also have a normative obligation to conduct business in ways that promote peace. While there are historical examples of firm-instigated violence and firms reaping benefits from instability and conflict, there is also evidence that corporations proactively engage in peacebuilding. For example, firms
devise programs to promote economic development, offer access to education, and employ former combatants.

In The Building and Breaking of Peace, Molly M. Melin develops a theory of the conflicting roles corporations play in both building and preventing peace. Melin shows that corporations engage in peacebuilding when there is a gap in the state's capacity to enforce laws, but they also weigh the
opportunity costs of peacebuilding, responding to the need for action when conditions enable them to do so. Firms are uniquely situated in their ability to raise the cost of violence, and proactive firms can increase the years of peace in a country. At the same time, an active private sector can
make it harder for states with ongoing conflict to reach an agreement, as they act as an additional veto player in the bargaining process.

Including original cross-national data of peacebuilding efforts by firms in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa from 2000 to 2018, and in-depth case analyses of corporate actions and outcomes in Colombia, Northern Ireland, and Tunisia, Melin shows that corporations help to prevent violence
but not resolve it. In examining the corporate motives for peacebuilding and the implications of these activities for preventing violence and conflict resolution, the book builds a more holistic picture of the peace and conflict process. The findings also help explain why armed civil conflicts
persist despite the multitude of diverse actors working to end them.

Author Biography

Molly M. Melin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of international relations and political methodology, with an emphasis on international conflict and conflict management. She is also interested in strategic studies, international organizations, and foreign policy decision-making. Her publications on third party interventions in international conflicts, the dynamics of conflict expansion, and peacekeeping operations have appeared in International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Conflict Management and Peace Science, and International Interactions. Her current research explores the role of the private sector in peacebuilding.