Economic liberalization and global integration have created new opportunities for business, and for social and economic development, in many regions of the world. But they have also contributed to corruption, environmental damage, the spread of sweatshops, and offenses against human rights. When businesses based in the North and West invest in the developing world, they move into societies with institutions, laws, values, and social situations very different from those at home. While those societies have definite strengths, many are marked by poverty and severe social disruption, political leadership of dubious legitimacy, and weak civil societies, and their rules and institutions are thus an unequal match to powerful economic interests. Elsewhere, political officials build lucrative high-level networks with investors and entrepreneurs, while in still other places corrupt dictators exploit both international businesses and their own citizens.

What are the ethics of doing business in these societies, both from the standpoint of good corporate governance and social justice? Are corruption, pollution, and sweatshops inevitable? Might they be transitional problems on the road to better outcomes? Or can business and political leaders work with civil society to bring such societies into the mainstream of world development while protecting freedom and integrity on all sides?

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Format: Chair for the event: Prof. George Brenkert, Georgetown University
Three main speakers (approximately 10-12 minutes each)
Two discussants (approximately 5-6 minutes each)
Discussion among participants and questions from the floor