Businesses play a key role in politics. Unsurprisingly, corporate political activity is a lively field of study in political science and economics. Yet the role of corporations in shaping and designing foreign policy remains comparatively overlooked. This panel seeks contributions that examine how businesses influence foreign policy and international politics. It aims to discuss corporate political activities that affect the international system, such as lobbying national representatives and multilateral organisations, engaging in public–private partnerships, funding diplomatic initiatives, and shaping regulatory and trade agendas. Particular attention is given to the ways in which financial resources and corporate capital flows structure power relations internationally – for example through investment decisions, campaign and party financing, support for think tanks and advocacy networks, and the funding of international programmes and institutions.
We welcome theoretical, empirical, and comparative papers that explore these dynamics across different sectors, regions, and institutional settings, and that help illuminate the evolving relationship between corporate power and foreign policymaking.
This panel seeks to address topics such as (but not limited to):
- Interactions between business representatives and the international public bureaucracy;
- Lobbying and advocacy in international organisations;
- The influence of financial resources on the distribution of power in the international system;
- Corporate funding of diplomatic initiatives, international NGOs, and multi-stakeholder governance arrangements;
- The role of investment, trade, and financial instruments (e.g. sovereign debt, investor–state dispute mechanisms) in shaping states’ foreign policy choices;
- How international institutions shape stakeholders’ access to foreign policy and international decision-making processes.
By bringing together diverse perspectives on corporate influence, money, and institutional design, this panel aims to advance a more comprehensive understanding of how economic power is translated into political authority in the international arena.
