Lawyers, Guns, and Money: The Governance of Business Activities in Conflict Zones

There is a proliferation of literature discussing human rights and business, but far less that looks at the issue of businesses operating in conflict Zones and the applicability of international humanitarian law. This is understandable in terms of the prominence and dynamism of human rights as a sub-discipline, contrasted with the conservatism of international humanitarian law. But from a doctrinal perspective it is somewhat odd, as the direct applicabiIity of human rights norms to business is far less clear than the applicability of international humanitarian law. Section II of this paper describes the normative regime that is set up by human rights and international humanitarian law, before Section III turns to the specific situation of conflict zones and efforts to regulate some of the newer entities on the scene, in particular private military and security companies. Section IV then sketches out a regime that focuses not on toothless regulation, but on a model of governance that combines limited sanctions with a wider structuring of incentives. These three parts are referred to in shorthand as lawyers, guns, and money