I write this from Sweimeh, on the Dead Sea in Jordan, at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) Middle Eastern gathering of business, government, civil society and media leaders. Visible across the Dead Sea to the west is the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank and Jerusalem, and further west is Gaza, ravaged by Palestinian in-fighting, Israeli strangulation and assassinations, and American-Israeli-led fiscal sanctions.
Here at WEF, though, many Arabs and a few Israelis persist in the quest for a negotiated, just peace. There is a peculiar incongruity to hundreds of immensely successful and very powerful Arab, Israeli and international businessmen and women who meet regularly, yet cannot find the tools needed to change the mundane, often mediocre, policies of their political leaders.
This contrasts spectacularly with last week’s inauguration of a legitimate, elected coalition government that represents both the Protestant and Catholic communities and has restored local rule in Northern Ireland.
This is a stunning example of what can happen when corporate leaders take the initiative to improve conditions for all citizens, thus forcing their politicians to follow and resolve their conflicts peacefully.
One person who has actively fostered peace, reconciliation and prosperity through business activity in Northern Ireland for years is the pioneering Cullinet software magnate John Cullinane. He has also tried a similar approach with Arabs and Israelis. His thoughts this week on the Northern Ireland’s lessons for the ailing Middle East ring with deep credibility.
“Ironically, he told me, “what was created in Northern Ireland, after 400 years of strife and bitterness, was not just power sharing but a full fledged democracy. Consequently, Northern Ireland has many important lessons for Middle East peace-making, in my experience.
He starts: “Getting any group of people to give up any power, whatsoever, is extraordinarily difficult, and virtually impossible. This can happen, though, with the full time effort and influence of world political leaders, other stakeholders, diasporas, and other interested parties, using every possible opportunity – because the antagonists cannot or will not do so themselves. Governments can only do so much ñ like negotiate cease-fires or arrange meetings – yet government agencies also seek good ideas from the private sector that they can support.
This creates an opening for business leaders in the area “to get involved and use their influence to promote peace, and not leave things to the extremists from both sides of the conflict. The G7, a group of seven business organizations which was formed in Northern Ireland to do exactly this, is a perfect example.
He also says the diasporas of both sides of a conflict “have to help promote peace and economic development in a coordinated fashion. The Friends of Belfast is a good example.
Cullinane continues: “Only the private sector can create the all-important peace dividend of jobs and economic development. Even the prospect of peace can set in motion a great economic revival in a depressed area.
His own experience as a self-described “corporate and social entrepreneur is that the fastest, easiest way to create jobs in a troubled area is call centers. Trade missions, peopled by representatives from both sides of a dispute, as “the most effective way to sell economic initiatives in a region with a history of conflict. For the sooner most people feel that they are better off, the easier it is for politicians to negotiate an agreement.
He sees new opportunities in things like telemedicine healthcare services using the world wide web, cell phones, and other new technologies, something of second generation call centers. Such smart call centers are ideal where there is a strong medical tradition.
He explains: “Nurses and doctors in the Middle East could provided round-the-clock, week-long monitoring support for patients in America, locally, or in other parts of the world, even from their homes. The technology is available to do this now and the Middle East has the personnel to compete globally.
One call center company, Stream International, put a call center in Derry, Northern Ireland, that created 400 jobs for young Catholics and Protestants, at a time when it would be like putting one in Ramallah or Gaza today. It now employs 800, he notes.
There will be bumps on the road, he warns.
“There will always be those who will try to disrupt progress towards peace with violence, or question the motives of the other side; those promoting peace cannot let these acts, or views, deter them. It is remarkable how quickly political leaders can agree once it suits them to do so.
If the conflict in Northern Ireland proved to be resolvable, he concludes, every conflict can be solved if the respective leaders want to solve it, or are helped or pushed to do so, and “this includes the Middle East.
Rami Khouriis published twice weekly by THE DAILY STAR.
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