Let us not turn this world into an Armageddon
Give business a chance

A patient visits her GP and complains of recurring sneezing. The doctor asks her what she has been doing about it. The patient replies ‘I have started taking snuff’. The American strategy of fighting terror smacks of the same attitude. They have still not realised that it is their approach to war on terror which has legitimised and given respectability to Hizbolla, Hamas, Al-Quaeda and now Taliban.

Allowing Israel to decimate Lebanon killing and maiming thousands of civilians and rendering half a million people homeless to recover two soldiers will no doubt make Israel victorious. But as in the past this victory will be pyrrhic and a trigger for a further violence. Watching Nejma describe to Sky One reporter how terrified she was in her own home due to incessant bombing of Beirut gave a different interpretation to the word ‘terrorist’. The history is witness that force always creates outlaws. There was no Hizbolla until Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to crush PLO. Saddam Hussein was propped by Anglo-US support to Iraq against Iran. Bin Laden a US creation to fight against the Russians in Afghanistan.

George Orwell said, to see what is in front of one’s nose is a constant struggle. The world is on a short fuse. The ineptitude of global leaders has created a deadly brew of Hizboulla, Hamas, Al-Quaeda, Taliban. Stirring it together with Syria, Iran and North Korea with a touch of Pakistan blow up the whole world and turn into an Armageddon. We must not therefore make the same mistakes.

Despite the flak which the British Prime Minister’s fawning on President Bush received, Tony Blair showed remarkable maturity in his advice to the US President ‘You cannot stop this [blood shed] unless you get some international presence agreed’. It is a pity that this advice as well as Kofi Anan’s suggestion of cease fire has fallen on deaf ears.

G8’s failure in resolving the current crisis exposes its ineffectiveness. Its consequences are grim and alarming. It shows we are back to the law of jungle where might is right. If it cannot provide basic security for people how can we expect it to eradicate poverty, remove inequities and combat climate change? With UN system already weakened by the Iraq war, we need an alternative global governance system. Corporations provide a great hope.

Despite the problems that MNCs have created they have been a hugely unifying force speeding up the process of globalisation. Their strength lies in the fact that they have a global constituency and therefore can take decisions without worrying about their local vote banks. They pride in being transnational, celebrate diversity and fight xenophobia.

The merger of Arcelor Mittal exemplifies how business compulsions are driving out xenophobia which in the past prevented the shareholders from reaping the gains of globalisation. Throughout his five months battle with Mittal, Guy Dolle kept evoking nationalistic sentiments in Spain, France, Luxembourg & Brussels to garner support from political establishments. He even went to the extent of comparing Mittal Steel products as Asian de Cologne and his company’s produce as European Perfume. None of this worked with the shareholders and they finally dumped SeverStal for Mittal Steel purely out of economic consideration.

The uproar against the extradition of the NatWest Three is another example of parochial feelings. They are rascals but our rascals syndrome. British government has to be complemented for resisting the pressure and ensuring the extradition. Three men have been charged with wire fraud details of which are in the news section of this journal. Business community realises that 90% of the population shuns the stock markets, the very instrument for equitable wealth creation, because of the kind of shady deals of which the three have been charged with. They are determined to cleanse the system to usher transparency.

US perhaps is the only country which has come out heavily against fraudsters and has not spared even the White Knights of the Wall Street or the icons of economic success such as Citibank’s Sandy Weill and Martha Stuart. Its system has unmatched reputation for impartiality. There should be no cause for anyone to suspect that the extradited bankers will not receive a fair trial.

For all this it is time to consider how the political vacuum created by inept politicians can be filed by the business leaders. As it is, it is always the business which has been driving political agenda. It is time that it is done consciously. Business organisations must come out openly to use their collective and cohesive influence prevent the world becoming an Armageddon.

Our last conference in Vilamoura showed what a great role the business can play in enriching the poor. We have moved the word CSR to the next level i.e. CSR Plus. CSR Plus connects the World to the Boardroom and the Boardroom to the Village, helps companies remove poverty, build their brand, benefit the bottom line and improve their market capitalisation. Business community has a role to play not only in eradicating poverty but also in combating climate change and most of all securing long term peace. For the first time in human history, the business has the power and technology to make a difference to human lives and can fill the vacuum eminently.

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