5 Chapter 5: Corporations and war

5 The Role Of Corporations In War

 

We all learned about the role of the entities called ‘countries’ in war. That is what war is:  a series of battles between ‘countries’ over the rights of different countries to certain parts of the world. 

But other entities stay in the background.  They are leading players in the activities we call ‘war.’  They often gain far greater benefits from the war than the entities called ‘countries.’  Generally speaking, corporations win no matter which country wins: they often supply both sides. Often, corporations work aggressively to create wars that wouldn’t otherwise have happened.  For example, the struggles between enormous countries led to many of the wars of the 1700s:  The Dutch East India Company (the most likely responsible organization for the ‘Boston Tea Party’ which was an important event for the global conflict that led to the existence of the United States), the French East India Company and its ally the Company of New France fighting with the Virginia Company and the Ohio Company of Virginia (leading to the ‘French and Indian War’ that spread to a global conflict), the immense struggles between the British East India Company and the tribal authorities of India and Pakistan (which determined the control of large parts of Asia), are just a few examples.  More recently, we have the battles over whether Russian corporations (Rosneft, Surgutneftegas, Gazprom, LukOil, Transneft) or ‘western’ corporations (the Dutch company ‘Shell,’ British Petroleum, Exxon Mobil, Chevron) will have the right to supply the industries of Europe) are key issues leading to the 2022 to present battles between America and western interests and Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. 

We can’t really understand the issue of war without understanding the roles that corporations play in this activity.