A study by Strategic Foresight Group reveals that there is a strong relationship between business and peace . Conventionally peace is meant to be a business of government and businesspeople are meant to concentrate on profit making enterprises. It is by increasing rate of return on their investments that they create income and employment. If business enterprises can do this, they would eventually contribute to peace and sustainability in their societies. Why should they care to go beyond their conventional responsibilities and promote peace?

For the last few years, the United Nations Global Compact has launched a voluntary movement to encourage business corporations to conduct themselves in a responsible way. More than 3000 companies have signed up to the Principles of Global Compact. An important objective of the work of Global Compact is to enable business to contribute to the sustainability of societies in which they function and in doing so prevent conflict and violence.

Our study reveals that businesspeople most benefit from peaceful environment in any country. The peaceful economies tend to be competitive and easy for business. They also foster knowledge economy, the new vehicle of economic advancement.

Steve Killelea , an Australian entrepreneur, has founded Global Peace Index with research conducted at the Economist Intelligence Unit . If we compare over 100 countries on the Global Peace Index with Global Competitiveness Index , we find a correlation of 0.669. The comparison with Ease of Doing Business Index demonstrates a correlation of 0.579 and the comparison with the World Bank's Knowledge Economy Index reveals a correlation of 0.652.

The relationship between peace and business is even stronger if we particularly concentrate on internal peace . The Global Peace Index views peace in its comprehensive character. It is calculated on the basis of deaths from organised conflict, displaced people, disrespect for human rights, terrorism, violent demonstrations, military expenditure and personnel and other factors that determine peacefulness of nations.

Another peace index concentrates on internal peace. The Foreign Policy Magazine presents it as a Failed States Index . It focuses on the underlying drivers of peace and violence. These include demographic pressures, refugee movements, chronic and sustained human flight, uneven economic development based on ethnic or sectarian groups, criminalization of states, human rights violation, presence of militias and intervention by foreign states, among other factors. The Failed States Index measures how violent and disturbed the states are. If viewed in reverse, it would show how peaceful the states are.

When more than 100 countries are compared on the Inverse Failed States Index with Global Competitiveness Index, we see a correlation of 0.768. If we compare Inverse Failed States Index with Ease of Doing Business Index, we see a correlation of 0.743 and in comparison with the World Bank's Knowledge Economy Index the correlation is 0.818.

Thus, the relationship between business and peace is almost 0.8 if we use Inverse Failed States Index and it is higher than 0.6 if we compare it to the Global Peace Index - both on the scale of 0 to 1. Since most components of Inverse Failed States Index and Global Peace Index are common, one element, which is not common that makes all the difference is military expenditure. The Global Peace Index takes this into account while the Inverse Failed States Index does not factor it. This is why the United States with its position as the world's biggest spender on arms appears very low on the Global Peace Index. It is nor surprising that a separate study of relationship between military expenditure and business does not reveal any correlation at all.

Thus, if businesses want their host country to be globally competitive, easy to do business in and strong on the tools of knowledge economy, it is in their interest that the country pursues peace.

Large countries such as the United States, Russia, India and China are relatively difficult to analyse while examining correlations between Global Peace Index or the Inverse Failed States Index on the one hand and their business competitiveness on the other. These countries are huge and complex multinational or continental entities. There is no internal Peace Index or Inverse Failed Society Index available to compare different provinces or districts within these countries. If someone prepares such an index, we will find that the areas that are relatively less peaceful such as some of the mid Western states in the United States or the Naxal affected states in India are also the states that are least globally competitive for business.

The relationship between peace and business is even stronger when compared to the performance of broader economy. The correlation between Global Peace Index and UNDP Human Development Index is 0.654 and the correlation between Inverse Failed States Index and the Human Development Index is 0.829. In any society where there is good potential for human development, there is bound to be scope for business to expand markets and profits.

It is obviously not our case that peace is the only determinant of competitive business environment or knowledge economy. It is important for countries to have robust economic policies that promote productivity and innovation. It is essential to have good infrastructure - both physical and human. It is necessary to have culture of entrepreneurship and a technocratic mindset. It is also necessary to have a society free of corruption.

It might be possible for a country with such properties to have business growth without peace. There are a few examples of such countries that have achieved economic success but they are exceptions rather than a rule. Otherwise in most cases, peace makes it possible for a government to take risks associated with economic reforms. It diverts human energy from potentially destructive obsession to the tasks of building societies and economies. As a participant in a workshop organised by Strategic Foresight Group observed at Antalya : "In peaceful societies, people determine their relations on social and economic basis. In conflict zones, people determine relations on political basis." When relations are driven by economy, business is bound to win.

Critics may argue that countries have economically benefited from wars. To a large extent, the United States owes its prosperity to the First World War in Europe . However, we have to bear in mind that the United States could benefit from the war in Europe because its own people were living in peace, focussing on innovation and generating massive production capacity, which was used to take advantage of production deficit in Europe . Even though the United States has been engaged in wars elsewhere, it has managed to maintain peace at home. Since 2001 when internal peace in the United States was disturbed, its economy has also declined.

In any case, we are not suggesting a perfect relationship between peace, business and sustainability of societies. The correlation is not 1. The correlation is between 0.6 and 0.8 depending on whether we use Global Peace Index or Inverse Failed States Index. It is important to note that the correlation improves if peace is compared to overall human development.

It took over twenty years since the publication of The Limits to Growth for the world of business to appreciate the relationship between business and environmental sustainability. Therefore, the Rio Summit has a support of the corporate sector. Since the 1990s, environmental consciousness is rising among business corporations leading to new investment and production patterns. However, while focussing on environmental sustainability, business has generally ignored social sustainability - i.e. peace. It is not possible to treat environmental and social sustainability separately. Indeed, the correlation between business, peace and environment is even stronger than the correlation between only business and environmental sustainability. Thus, business, peace and sustainability have to be treated as three sides of a triangle. If one of the sides is missing the triangle of progress will be incomplete. Peace without business will not be sustainable and business without peace is also not sustainable.

It is time for us to rise out of our compartmentalised thinking and look at the world in all its relationships. Business is not an island. It is a part of the whole. Business needs to care for peace and sustainability not because these are good social objectives that make a good PR campaign but because the sustainability of society finally determines the sustainability of a business enterprise itself. It is not surprising that 3000 companies that have voluntarily joined the United Nations Global Compact understand this basic reality. However, it is just a beginning. In our strife-torn world, big challenges beckon us all to work together whether we are in business, government, civil society or just common people.