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Many international businesses in technology and other sectors, stop working in Russia After the occupation of Ukraine.

It is unclear how long the institutional solidarity to isolate Russia will last. Just look at past crises.

in 2018Saudi Arabian agents killed and dismembered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which led to the rapid condemnation of the kingdom that American intelligence agencies found. Confirmed planned assassination. Some, far from all, foreign companies and tech powers have withdrawn from business deals with Saudi Arabia.

But in about half a year, many global companies we are back.

The situations in Saudi Arabia and Russia are very different, but both highlight a problem for global companies, especially tech companies whose digital services cross borders: Do you need to work in countries where government behavior is unacceptable?

Many American technology executives have embraced the belief that economic and cultural links between nations, industries, and citizens help prevent conflict and improve the situation for everyone. But as my colleague Patricia Cohen WroteRussia’s war is the latest challenge to the peace-keeping ideal of global engagement.

Powerful companies, especially tech companies with public profiles and huge fortunes, are under pressure from their customers. employees or by elected officials withdrawing their jobs to press for change in government laws or norms around the world.

Global retailers have come under pressure for their claims. took advantage of forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China. Opponents of Texas abortion restrictions Uber and tesla take a stand against the law. Freedom of expression advocates use Facebook and Twitter. Challenge the Indian governmentBans were imposed on citizens who opposed the new agricultural laws.

Companies sometimes find themselves in a position to choose principles over profits, often with uncertain possibilities for systemic change.

After Khashoggi’s murder, some leaders in the tech and other sectors decided to distance themselves from Saudi Arabia.

Google and Amazon It appears to have suspended negotiations with Saudi government officials to build computer data centers. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation a pledge was canceled to a non-profit organization led by the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Hollywood agency Endeavor He gave back 400 million dollars From Saudi Arabian investment fund.

In many cases, international companies lowered their public profile and resumed relations with Saudi Arabia once the heat subsided. There was a lot of potential money at stake.

Responding to the Chinese government is the biggest challenge for global companies. Beijing enacted a comprehensive national security law In 2020, it brought Hong Kong closer to China’s censorship and covert digital surveillance. Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon and others responded threaten to withdraw from the city.

Coworker Paul Mozur He told me that tech companies mostly stay in Hong Kong, in part because what seems to be their worst fear – raids on companies and getting employees arrested for breaking the law – is unlikely. He said companies continue to evaluate every move or signal from the government.

Each country presents unique challenges for global companies doing business there. Russia started a war for no reason against a neighboring country and most of the world united behind Ukraine. Bulk withdrawal of businesses from Russia — optional or in the case of Facebook, blocked by the government — also unlike the fact that they are not found in long-isolated countries such as Iran and North Korea.

Karen E. YoungA senior researcher at the Middle East Institute said that Saudi Arabia and Russia are different in another way. “The Saudi government and Saudi leadership grasped it very quickly. The importance of integrating into international markets“said. “Putin seems willing to put that aside.”

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of Yale School of Management Wrote on Fortune He said what he calls a “big business withdrawal” from Russia could lead to a change of leadership. He wrote that when international companies cut ties with South Africa decades ago, their actions strengthened international government sanctions and helped end the country’s apartheid regime.

Gregory FairchildThe dean at the University of Virginia’s Northern Virginia campus, whose research focuses on corporate strategy and ethics, may be calculating that autocratic leaders, foreign governments and corporations in Russia and other countries will not continue to be repelled and punished.

Dr. “The anger that depends on the news cycle has a half-life,” Fairchild said. Many leaders have “enough evidence that we won’t care for long.”

Further reading:

Before you go …

• Next Theranos try: Jury selection begins Wednesday in a similar series of cases involving Holmes’ ex-boyfriend and ex-assistant Sunny Balwani, following Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’ conviction for defrauding investors in a blood test venture. Fraud accusations My Colleagues David Streitfeld and Erin Woo preview the case and Balwani’s professional background.

• The absurdity of being online during the war: “We keep changing, waiting to see what happens, wishing we could do more to stop these things,” one sociologist said. told the Atlantic. (Subscription may be required.)

• College freshman following Elon Musk’s jet around the world now Follow the planes and yachts of Russian billionairesBloomberg News reports. (Subscription may be required.) A related mystery: This is a super yacht owned by a super-connected Russian – maybe Putin?

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