Conflicts and Safeguards

Abstract

As is well known, multinational corporations encounter a good deal of criticism and even hostility in their own parent countries, and more so in other capitalist host countries. But when the dealings of the Western and Socialist multinationals take them across the East-West demarcation line, the potential for conflict is virtually unlimited. The sources of conflict are compounded by the political, economic and legal differences between these basically opposing social systems. A particular decision under one system may be hastily interpreted by the unsympathetic affected party on the other side as a calculated, sinister act, although such a decision may be a logical and legitimate consequence of the social system in force. The memories of past grievances (real or imagined), the legacy of the Cold War and the difficulty of communication are even more likely to contribute to suspicion and mistrust.