If there is one single lesson that has been learnt from the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere it is that

we have not understood people;

people we have fought amongst;

people we have fought against;

people we have fought alongside.

Too often we have looked at people’s behaviours through the lens of our own cultures and history;

a culture and history very different from ‘theirs’.

Too often we have been confused and puzzled by ‘their’ behaviours, ‘their’ narrative and more often view ‘their’ actions as irrational.

We often ask ‘Why are you unable to accept our aid?”, ‘why are you unable to accept that democracy is a better path?’, ‘why is education not important?’.

More often the truth is that it is we who are being irrational.

The behaviour being demonstrated is perfectly rational, the actions being taken sensible responses to chaotic environments, poverty, social conflict and any number of of other levers of instability.

Actions we continually viewed as a symptoms without investigating and understanding the causes.

The lessons of Behavioural Conflict now apply to those complex environments where social conflict exists, where communities do not share the benefits of the resources they live within and little is understood about how to maintain a Social License to Operate.

Environmental Social Governance has become, rightly, an unstoppable force but it too must be better understood, more effectively implemented and better governed.

ESG must not become a new marketing tool. The impact must be real and make a genuine difference.

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