Summary

The Voluntary Principles offer 'rules of engagement' for extractive sector company relationships with security forces, one of the central sets of issues to have emerged in the debate over the roles and responsibilities of business in zones of conflict. I will argue that while recent events are testing the value of the Voluntary Principles, there are concrete steps that companies, NGOs and the convening governments can take to make these 'rules of engagement' more useful and credible- and help business become a force for peace.