But while a decades-old armed conflict financed by the cocaine trade has put much of this exceptionally diverse country out of bounds to travellers, the cities themselves, including the capital, are relatively safe.
An informal "don't ask, don't tell" culture still prevails within many companies and supply chains, meaning legacies of violence or conflict-finance are soon lost and forgotten, and with them, the sense of ownership and responsibility that can bring change.
The remaining conflicts, financed by drugs trafficking, are the longest-running wars in the world.
"Unless you do it for money or as a sort of product, to do anything you don't absolutely, exactly want to do is just really stupid," Mr. Malkovich said, adding that time conflicts, financing difficulties and other obstacles had kept him from directing a half-dozen times over the last decade.
The NATO officer said Iran's intelligence agencies were playing both sides of the conflict, providing financing, weapons and training to the Taliban.
IN 1969, in the midst of devastating strikes, rising racial conflict, sinking finances, terrifying crime rates and an expanding, dysfunctional city bureaucracy, the pugilistic writer Norman Mailer made a quixotic bid for mayor of New York.
"If the State Department of Labor has concerns, they have not reflected them to us and I'm not aware of them," Mr. Turner said, adding that the only conflict over financing concerned a technicality about how to allocate costs for the centers.
Principally, he advocated honesty and a display of trust – which he thinks engenders reciprocal feelings with those he negotiates with: 'If you leave them in the dark they will develop their own version of your motives and that is a waste of valuable time.' Yet, one of the biggest challenge facing Sudanese businesses is not, according to Husam, the military conflicts, but finance.
He continually cited research indicating that a top reason why marriages end in divorce is because of conflict over finances.
Dr. Amy Wenzel is a clinical psychologist, author, and consultant who uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help individuals and couples navigate countless interpersonal issues, including conflict about finances.
But for those of concerned with the role of conflict minerals financing armed groups and military units in eastern Congo, tucked away in this law is a modest but crucial step forward.
