Academic Profile

Jason Miklian is a Senior Researcher in business, peacebuilding and sustainable develpment at the Centre for Development and the Environment (University of Oslo, Norway) and fellow at the Political Science department, Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia). 

Miklian has published two books and 75 academic articles and policy reports since 2010, and is considered a global expert in the field of business, peace and crisis, winning several awards for his publications. Google Scholar link here.

Miklian holds a PhD in Development Studies from NMBU (Norway), MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK), and BA in South Asian Studies and International Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA).

This book (co-authored and co-edited with John Katsos and Rina Alluri, Routledge) brings together thought leaders from business ethics, management, international relations, and peace and conflict studies to show how businesses can contribute to peacebuilding and sustainable development. It studies how the private sector can better deliver peace in violent conflict settings and better help the local communities that are presumed to be the beneficiaries of such actions. It is the first book to compile the state-of-the-field in one place and is an essential guide for students, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners on the role of business in peace.

"This volume is a very welcome contribution to the interdisciplinary theme of business, peace and development. With both theoretical and empirical...insights relevant to a range of audiences, including researchers, policy-makers, activists, managers, investors and staff of international (non-)governmental organizations. I hope it will draw further attention to this topic that is so important for business and society, and for local populations in particular."

Professor Ans Kolk, University of Amsterdam

"As this important book sets out, business "doing good" or avoiding doing harm, does not necessarily add up to peace. Business does not exist in a vacuum, but in an interlinked symbiosis with society, conditioned on trust and public confidence. ...As business seeks to adjust to the complexity, volatility and risks of conflicts deriving from the simultaneous acceleration of technology, globalization and climate change, we must bring the front lines of academic thinking and business together to inform mindsets and action that enhance peace. This book is an important contribution, demonstrating the need for system thinking, analysis, strategic engagement and a longer-term approach."

Per Saxegaard, Founder, Business for Peace Foundation

"Conducting business in a war situation puts the spotlight on the boundary between realism and idealism. This book is an intellectual tool for CEOs and investors facing armed conflict or situations where they can help prevent conflict.""

Carlos Joly, Co-Chair of Expert Group on the UN Principles of Responsible Investment and fellow,　Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership

Miklian, Jason and Ralf Barkemeyer, 2022. Business, peacebuilding, violent conflict and sustainable development in Myanmar: presenting evidence from a new survey dataset. Journal of Asia Business Studies, online first. (Open Access)

Miklian, Jason and Kristian Hoelscher, 2021.SMEs and exogenous shocks: A conceptual literature review and forward research agenda. International Small Business Journal 40(2): 1-26. (Open Access)

Miklian, Jason and Juan Pablo Medina-Bickel, 2020. “Theorizing Business and Local Peacebuilding: A Study of The 'Footprints of Peace’ Coffee Project in Rural Colombia.” Business and Society, 59(4): 676-715. (Open Access)

Schouten, Peer and Jason Miklian, 2020. “The business–peace nexus: ‘business for peace’ and the reconfiguration of the public/private divide in global governance.” Journal of International Relations and Development. 23(2): 413-445. (Open Access)

Miklian, Jason, 2019.  "Contextualising and theorising economic development, local business and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar." Conflict, Security and Development 19(1): 55-78. 

Barkemeyer, Ralf and Jason Miklian, 2019. "Responsible Business in Fragile Contexts: Comparing Perceptions from Domestic and Foreign Firms in Myanmar." Sustainability  11(3): 598 (Open Access)

Miklian, Jason, 2018. “Mapping Business-Peace: Five Assertions for how Businesses Create Peace.” Business, Peace and Sustainable Development 10(1): 3-27. (Open Access, free to read and download) 

Oetzel, Jennifer and Jason Miklian, 2017. “Multinational enterprises, risk management, and the business and economics of peace.” Multinational Business Review 25(4): 270-286. (Open Access)

Miklian, Jason and Kristian Hoelscher, 2020. "Entrepreneurial Strategies for Climate Innovation in Dhaka, Bangladesh." 2020. Sustainability 12(21): 9115. (Open Access)

Miklian, Jason and Søren Jeppesen, 2020. "Research in the Time of COVID-19." 2020. Forum for Development Studies 47(2): 17-27. (Open Access)

Miklian, Jason and Benedicte Bull, 2019. "Towards Global Business Engagement with Development Goals? Multilateral Institutions and the SDGs." Business and Politics 21(4): 3-25. (Open Access)

Miklian, Jason and Kristian Hoelscher, 2018. "A New Research Approach for Peace Innovation." Innovation and Development 8(2): 189-207. (Open Access)

Miklian is a regular guest lecturer for universities, multilateral organizations, think tanks, non-governmental organizations, and research institutes worldwide. Contact him for lecture requests.

Miklian leads or has lead a series of collaborative research projects, serves on a series of academic boards, and is frequently solicited for expert reviews from academic journals and funding agencies.

Miklian currently supervises Master's and PhD students in a wide variety of topics, and is always looking to collaborate with talented students in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, business and development, human rights, South Asia studies, peace and conflict, and sustainable development. Student disciplines cut across political science, development studies, law, human rights, business/management and international relations, among others.