Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/61367
may hinge on providing other, more entrepreneurial opportu- nities to young people in strugglingMiddleEastern economies, to commit suicide andmassmurder forHamas because there's a perverse social status reinforcing that kind of behavior. Posters are printed and circulated, their families are compen- sated, and many are proud to be the mother or brother of a so-called martyr." Changing that set of values presents no easy task. Success Peacemaking, is currently involved in an entrepreneurship program involving Arabs and Israeli Jews. Subsidized by Israeli business leader SteffWertheimer, the programaims not just to teach business, but to open lines of communication. "Such programs could be expanded to include Palestinians and thus contribute to both entrepreneurship and business cooperation in the region," Hashai says. Likewise, a partnership between Tel Aviv University's solutions, however, one important resource often may be overlooked: The business school classroom. economic factors of terrorism is to establish more business courses and discussions that target Middle Eastern markets. By covering topics such as terrorist and antiterrorist organi- zational hierarchy, communication across Arab cultures, and management-based solutions within struggling countries, business schools themselves could be significant weapons in the "war on terrorism." "Business schools tend to make notions of investment a according to observers like Charlene Barshefsky, aU.S. ambas- sador under the Clinton administration. Now an attorney spe- cializing in international transactions for law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering inWashington, D.C., Barshefsky has advocat- ed before Congress and in the media for strongerU.S. policies that promote trade with and withinMiddle Eastern countries. "It's difficult to imagine an alternative to terrorismthat doesn't encompass economic development and opportunity," says Barshefsky. "If you're young with no job prospects and no pos- sibility for growth opportunities, there's a substantial risk of alienation and frustration.When that risk is coupled with a cul- tural and religious stew, it's a very dangerous combination." Barshefsky adds that one important step in addressing the Jews and Arabs by encouraging people to study business," says Benninga. "But there are a lot of commonalities between Palestinians and Israelis—we are not a society that constantly lives off terrorism. People come to this program because they're looking for a place to make connections and start dialogues." Hashai of Hebrew University agrees that much could be Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration and NorthwesternUniversity's Kellogg School ofManagement in Evanston, Illinois, also brings together Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians in an English language executive MBA pro- gram. The program gives scholarship money to Palestinian students and encourages joint projects among students from different backgrounds. It is a cross-cultural program at a time when, and at a place where, crossing cultures has never been more important, explains Simon Benninga, Recanati's dean. "It's not true that we're going to bring peace between the rather sterile subject," Barshefsky says. "But the more stu- dents understand the power of investment as a means toward development, and development as a means toward social and political stability, the better. In the case of microcredit, for instance, small investments can have profound effects and larger investments even more. The broader effect of invest- ment in emerging markets and lesser developed countries is a topic that business schools should stress to their students." Teaching the Peace Some business schools are already working to build bridges between citizens of clashing cultures—specifically Palestinians and Israelis. Niron Hashai, a business professor at The Hebrew University's Jerusalem School of Business and co- editor of the book International Trade and the Economics of achieved simply by designing a curriculum to accommodate such interaction and channeling additional funds to educating Palestinians and other Arab groups at top U.S. and European schools. Collaboration among Arab and American/European institutions would allow students fromMiddle Eastern coun- tries access to more high-quality business programs without having to leave their homes, Hashai emphasizes. Upon com- pletion of the programs, participants could use their skills to develop and rebuild their countries' economic infrastructures. "If we offer Palestinians the proper business education, schools expand students' sense of "affirmative inquiry," a termBAWB has coined, to focus on positive changes they can effect on these issues, rather than on current negative realities. "If you inquire into acts of terrorism, you put the focus on terrorism," says Rodgers. "We want to inquire into what it is BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2004 they are more likely to lead their communities to economic growth," saysHashai. "Thismay be the only way to fight fun- damentalism and terror." For her part, Rodgers of BAWB would like to see business 43