Corporate History
The end of the cold war changed the global security landscape in fundamental ways. In the developing world, the post-cold war era saw a surge in global instability, internal wars and failing states: the collapse of Somalia, the break-up of Yugoslavia, the genocide in Rwanda, regional wars in Central and West Africa, etc.
These trends were brought home vividly by ever more present, pervasive and influential international media, particularly the internet and satellite/cable TV.
In this environment, the conduct of foreign and defence policy, the delivery of development aid, and corporate investment decision-making all became harder, more complex and subject to greater risk.
At the same time there were pressures on donor governments, multilateral organisations and the corporate sector to become more engaged in various aspects of conflict management.
As the decade wore on accountability and due diligence of both corporate and state actors in zones of conflict and instability became increasingly important issues for voters, corporate shareholders, the media and NGOs.
New tools were required to deal with these multifaceted contemporary challenges: actionable conflict analysis, early warning systems, impact assessment, conflict sensitive development, etc.
Since the mid 1990s, OECD governments, global and regional multilateral agencies, think tanks, and non-governmental agencies have been at the forefront of efforts to develop such tools. Today, there are a range of conflict prevention instruments that are increasingly integrated into decision-making processes.
There remains, however, considerable room for improving tools used in approaching preventive action, corporate security, post-conflict reconstruction, and capacity-building.
To work on this improvement and to deliver much needed support for government and multilateral agencies and corporations working on conflict and security issues, a group of key experts convened to transform the two-year old Kardos and Nyheim Consulting into a specialised consultancy house.
The vision was simple: bring together the best experts in the conflict and security field, consolidate field-based networks in conflict areas, develop much needed service lines based on core competencies, and work together in a productive and cooperative team. In March 2006, International Conflict and Security (INCAS) Consulting was born.