Business Actors in Peace Mediation Processes ANDREA IFF AND RINA M. ALLURI ABSTRACT Even though the relevance of business actors in peace processes is increasingly acknowledged, analysis of their particular roles and contributions remain sparse in peace mediation literature. This is despite the fact that such knowledge would be highly relevant for supporting media- tion processes such as those ongoing in Colombia or the Philippines. This article looks at the involvement of busi- ness actors in mediation processes by tracing analysis along the entry points for involvement, the different roles that business actors can play and the limitations they face. The empirical data shows that business actors mainly play a role during the pre- and mediation phase and therein often as a support-giver to the mediation process. Further- more, most of the involvement does not take place at track- 1 level but rather at track-2 mediation processes, where mainly local business play an important role. In contrary to what is postulated by some of the literature, the relevance of utilitaristic motives is not problematic; rather a mone- tary motivation can also foster the credibility in a political process where a lot is at stake. Andrea Iff is Head of the Statehood, Business and Peace program at swisspeace in Bern, Switzerland and a Lecturer at the University of Basel. E-mail: andrea.iff@swisspeace.ch. Rina M. Alluri is an independent Peacebuilding Consultant and an Associate Expert with swisspeace in Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: rinaalluri@gmail.com. V C 2016 Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK. Business and Society Review 121:2 187–215