Multinational corporations: friends or foes of peace? Multinational corporations and state capture in Colombia

Chapter one includes a brief introduction and presents a literature review that describes, summarises and analyses three different segments of literature I have taxonomised among a broad collection of research papers and books written by academics and policymakers referring to the role played by corporations, particularly MNCs, in the socio-economic development of the countries facing armed conflicts.

It provides a clear indication of research gaps within and between these different sets of literature in order to elucidate the central contributions of this thesis. <br><br>The second chapter develops a theoretical framework of state capture and its potential effects on conflict and is organised into six sections. The first section, explores different elements to shape a definition of state capture; section two elucidates the main actors involved in the state capture process when MNCs play the role of captor; the third section draws the attention to some legal mechanisms through which MNCs may configure socio-political networks facilitating their role as captors; the fourth section describes possible pathways through which state capture may occur; section five highlight factors encouraging MNCs to play the role of captor in societies in which systems of violence are entrenched, and finally, section six establishes a criterion to identify the impact of state capture on conflict. <br><br>Chapter three introduces the Colombian case foreshadowing the case study chapters.