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This final chapter will discuss the relations of the multinationals to politics and then go on to their impact on social and cultural activities. The first part looks at the role of multinationals in the economic policy of the countries, in which they carry on their activities; the second part, with their intervention in national politics properly speaking and, in the third part, on the international political scene. In particular, the Codes of Conduct aimed at the multinationals will be examined.

How do the multinationals function, first of all internally and, then, what is their economic importance in the countries in which they operate?

The multinational company is not the only form of international organization, nor is it the first that ever existed. From earliest history — we have only to think of the Phoenicians 2500 years BC or the Venetians from the tenth century through the Renaissance — merchants have traded on an international basis. The same is true of bankers. Churches, too, spread outside of their home territory, thanks to missionaries.