A destroyed Russian tank sits abandoned in a field surrounded by trees singed by fire outside Kyiv, Ukraine (Photo by Joel Carillet/Getty Images).
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its second year, much has been reported about the role of the NATO alliance, led by the United States, in providing support. But less discussed are the actions of business to influence the situation.
An Indiana University Kelley School of Business professor will discuss the impact of corporations at the next event in the national online speaker series Equity Now, a national online speaker series co-sponsored by the school.
The webinar event, “Business, Peace and the War in Ukraine: One Year Later,” will begin at 6 p.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 20. Registration is free and open to the public through the series’ website.
Tim Fort
Presenters will be Tim Fort, the Eveleigh Professor in Business Ethics and a professor of business law and ethics at Kelley, and John Katsos, associate professor of business law, business ethics and social responsibility at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
Russia escalated its war with Ukraine on Feb. 22, 2022 with an attempted full invasion. While more than 1,000 companies have terminated operations in Russia, many others merely limited operations or still trade openly there.
“This panel will explore the surprising influence of multinational corporations on war and peace, especially the actions of businesses on the war in Ukraine,” Fort and Katsos said in their preview. “We will also examine the impact of decisions to divest, the role of consumers and boycotts, how the legal environment influences business conduct, and what the next year may bring in terms of war, peace and the role of business in building a just and peaceful world.”
Fort, who came to Kelley in 2013 after previously teaching at the University of Michigan and George Washington University, has written more than 15 books and more than 80 articles and book chapters and edited an additional 23 textbooks, supplemental pedagogical books, and research volumes.
Two of his books have won the Best Book Award from the Academy of Management for social issues, including “The Diplomat in the Corner Office” and “Business, Integrity & Peace.”
He also is an affiliated scholar with the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Fort received the 2022 Distinguished Career Achievement Award from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business.
Katsos, also a research affiliate at Queen’s University Belfast, does research on how businesses can act sustainably through crises. He has published more than 40 academic and practitioner articles on business responses to crises, including those in Syria, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Cyprus. Lebanon, Ukraine and Myanmar.
He sits on the boards of two social enterprises dedicated to international peace and three boards within the United Nations’ PRME Network.
Since 2020, the Equity Now speaker series has focused on race, gender, and how law and policy can facilitate equality, fairness, and inclusion in organizations. Kelley co-sponsors the series along with the business schools at the University of Connecticut, Virginia Tech University, Temple University, Boston University and the Academy of Legal Studies in Business.
Goldburn Maynard, Jr., assistant professor of business law and ethics, was a series presenter in October 2021, and Angélica Guevara, assistant professor of business law and ethics, will speak on the topic, “Disability: Language and the Law,” on April 18.