A stakeholder workshop in cooperation with the School of Politics and International Relations and the “Integrating Global Society” Scheme of the University of Nottingham. Click here to see the programme.
Participation in this meeting is free of charge. A sandwich lunch (€6) will be served between 13.15 and 14.00
The purpose of this workshop is to bring together academics, practitioners, policymakers and corporate actors to discuss the role of business and trade in the European Union's (EU) approach to international security provision, crisis management, conflict prevention and post-conflict peace-building.
Transnational corporations and other private business and trade actors are, as Mary Martin (2012) put it, "the elephant in the room”: large and potentially destructive but at the same time so big that no one wants to acknowledge their presence in the context of security provision, peace-building and transition. Despite international efforts to reconcile security with business and trade (cf. the Ruggie agenda on business and human rights) and a few success-stories (e.g. the Kimberley Process), the discourse has failed to go beyond the public rhetoric of what should be done. Although the EU has frequently underlined the importance of the interface between security and business/trade, the practical implementation of a security approach that bridges the gap between these sectors has been rather poor.
The workshop addresses these questions with a specific focus on: (1) the EU security policies that integrate operational crisis management, conflict prevention and post-conflict peace-building with trade/business; (2) the EU’s approach to human security and the challenges arising from the relation between business/trade, human rights and conflict management on the ground; (3) the role of transnational corporations in conflict management; (4) the role of contractors and private security companies with regards to relevant EU policies including counter-terrorism and counter-piracy.
