[R]ecent history of several conflicts has shown that access to lucrative economic resources with the active participation of multinational corporations (MNCs) has played an important role in fomenting and sustaining conflicts…Given the link between civil conflicts and private companies, participation of MNCs is vitally important to efforts aimed at resolving civil conflicts around the world…Active participation by multinational and national companies is…indispensable for the success of peacebuilding efforts in countries afflicted by violent conflicts. This framework is an effort to present various facets of business and conflict in the context of the need to reconcile differences between the basic objective of corporations and nation-states [refers to Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum (BP), Exxon Mobil, Levi Strauss & Co., Motorola, Eddie Bauer, Liz Claiborne, PepsiCo, Unocal (part of Chevron), Conoco, Chevron, Freeport McMoran, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Daimler Chrysler, DuPont]