Risky Business: The Business of Peace – Peacebuilding, Human Rights, and National Security with David L. Phillips

Welcome to Risky Business, a limited series in partnership with Trenchcoat Advisors, a risk advisory firm. In an unpredictable, complex, and chaotic world, the business risks are ever-present. To help navigate the challenges ahead, this series delves into the intersection of business and national security — from influence operations and sabotage to hostage diplomacy and investment security, we’re bringing exclusive conversations with leading experts to better understand and anticipate risk!

This week, The Burn Bag's A'ndre Gonawela and Trenchcoat's Holden Triplett chat with David L. Phillips, Director of Columbia University's Program on Peace-building and Rights and a former Senior Advisor to the U.S. State Department and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on the intersection of business and peace-building. We discuss why the commercial world needs to be engaged in the work that goes on in peace-building and conflict zones, and how David's own work on peace-building has differed between his time inside and outside government. David provides his view on how much economics intersected with his work, and what he means when he defines economic security. We also go into why businesses need to care about the human rights situations in other countries, and David's prognosis on what this intersection will look like in the future.