Author: Nick Nichols

Publisher: Free Enterprise Press (Bellevue, Wash., 2001)

Book Reviewed By: Katherine Tynberg

Rarely a week goes by without reports of another activist campaign against a corporation or other organization. Faced with onslaughts on their reputation, many groups try to appease their assailants by giving in to their demands.

In an important new book, Rules for Corporate Warriors: How to Fight and Survive Attack Group Shakedowns, crisis management counselor Nick Nichols argues convincingly that this response fails to recognize two important truths. First, that whether the attack concerns energy development, chemicals, animal research, trade or global warming, it is organized by savvy, well-funded groups that have a distinctly anti-corporate, anti-technology, pro-animal - to the point of anti-human - agenda.

Second, the activists groups will not be appeased - any more than Adolf Hitler was appeased in 1939 by the pleas and concessions of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, in his futile quest for "peace with honor, peace for our time." Instead, Nichols argues, like the Nazi dictator, radical attackers only become more insatiable in their demands.

Winston Churchill warned Chamberlain on the eve of World War II, "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You have chosen dishonor, and you will have war." Corporate chiefs and politicians alike have been given similar warnings, says Nichols, but they are too often counseled by "Nevilles" that the best course of action is capitulation.

These perspectives establish the framework for Nichols' book, which he says he wrote "out of sheer optimism" that good companies will begin to "stand their ground in the face of vicious attacks and emerge triumphant and invigorated." Ironically, he drew inspiration from Saul Alinsky's tactical approaches in his Rules for Radicals (which in the 1970s led a generation of protesters to challenge companies, governments, trade and technology). In other words, Nichols adopts Alinsky's mind set, by using creative, out-of-the-box strategies, while maintaining principled stands, to thwart activist groups.

That inspiration is also apparent in Nichols' punchy writing style, humorous anecdotes, sometimes-caustic asides and zingers, and complete absence of "corporate-speak." But Rules for Corporate Warriors is also a serious work of scholarship, which reflects exhaustive research (backed by over 500 endnotes).

In his introduction to the book, Greenpeace co-founder Dr. Patrick Moore noted: "Rules for Corporate Warriors is not just a full-blown diatribe against the political extremists who have hijacked the environmental movement; it is a detailed guidebook on how to fight and win battles with these self-appointed moralists. It will become essential reading for anyone involved in defending their company or association from the campaigns of extortion, denigration and false claims that have become so common in the world today."

Drawing on the work of authors Julian Simon and Bjorn Lomborg, Competitive Enterprise Institute president Fred Smith, journalist Tom Knudsen and many others, Nichols provides extensive discussions about technology, economics and the environment. Among the topics covered are fund-raising abuses, forest fires, the precautionary principle, chemicals, resource development, medical research, genetically modified foods, mass tort lawsuits and the growing problem of eco-terrorism. The analyses are aimed directly at the politically-correct views that often pass for science in today's news stories, legislatures and courtrooms.

Attack group ethics, says Nichols, can be boiled down to rules like these: "There are only radical ethics in a jihad. Achieving victory in a holy war justifies any tactic, no matter how corrupt." Or "Extremism in defense of nature is no vice."

Nichols charges that Bill Moyers used these perverse ethical principles in tarring and feathering the chemical industry in his one-sided March 2001 PBS special, "Trade Secrets." Nichols claims that the "media icon" relied heavily on input from trial lawyers and environmentalists in producing his program - but never called a single chemical company to ask for a response to his allegations.

The Empire State is not immune to these attacks. Nichols tells of new luxury homes on Long Island being torched to oppose "urban sprawl." Eco Storm Trooper Craig Rosebraugh supports such action in a Washington Post interview, saying "I think this economic sabotage does have a clear role in the environmental movement, and that is to cause as much economic damage to the entities as possible."

The book reviews environmental group opposition to New York City's West Nile virus mosquito control plan, which involved spraying the pesticide Malathion over the city's wetlands. In 1999, 62 New Yorkers became ill from the disease and seven died. A year later, when the virus was found in dead birds, activists fought to prevent the controlled spraying of Antil, a pesticide toxic to fish, Nichols reports. The New York Times quoted Jan Feldman, executive director of the National Coalition Against Misuse of Pesticides as opposing the spraying because "the mayor's constant drumbeat about the safety of this product (Antil) or any of these products could make people cavalier about exposure." While Feldman was concerned about educating the public on pesticides, Mayor Giuliani was concerned about more people dying, the book notes.

Currently, PETA, the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and other animal rights activists are targeting Marshall Farms, a breeder of animals for vital medical research. ALF has broken into the labs and stolen animals. And in February of this year, a nationally known activist, Bryan W. Pease, who is out on bail on criminal charges in Arkansas, was apprehended in full camouflage trespassing at Marshall Farms' North Rose, NY facility.

Eco-terrorism is occurring on a worldwide front, interrupting important global meetings on such vital topics as sustainable development, balance of trade and global economics. Nichols discusses the "Battle in Seattle," where protesters disrupted the World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings. They broke windows of storefronts, covered buildings with graffiti, set fires and basically tried to take over the city. These protests were extremely well organized, well funded and over a year in the making, Nichols says. The Ruckus Society and the Rainforest Action Network set up a boot camp outside of Seattle, according to a press release, to provide activists with "masters-level workshops" in civil disobedience.

Nichols documents how protesters from the Direct Action Network and Friends of the Earth were organized with a headquarters, field commanders and rooftop scouts communicating with cell phones, walkie-talkies and modems -- enabling the activists to avoid police and gain maximum effect for their actions. Not only were they able to disrupt the WTO meetings, but their destructive actions drew media coverage away from the important topics being discussed, Nichols asserts.

Compromise is a valid course of action in the case of legitimate grievances, Nichols acknowledges. However, to engage in appeasement in the face of a marketplace assault is to court disaster. Novartis, Ford, Shell, BP and Mitsubishi all learned this the hard way, whereas Hooters, Staples and other companies won their battles with extremists by taking a principled stand. To survive a marketplace assault, advises Nichols, one must observe the park ranger's rule about entering bear country: Never look like food.

Nichols' rules are accompanied by useful examples and stories of disasters and victories from his many years on the front lines of policy battles and attack group shakedowns. While this book should be required reading for anyone involved in defending corporations against activists, it is also recommended for anyone who cares about free enterprise, progress and better opportunities for the world's poor.

Katherine Tynberg, tynberg@mindspring.com, is president of the Tynberg Group, Inc., a McLean, Virginia public relations firm specializing in energy and environmental issues.