Will macroeconomic conditions that spur globalization continue? Not if protesters get their way and governments erect barriers to free trade. Here's what you can do to protect your company.

As black-masked anarchists proved during last September's protests in Prague against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the distance between yelling chants outside a conference hall and smashing windows at the local McDonald's is short. The violent backlash against international financial institutions is inextricably linked to attacks on global corporations, and finance executives should prepare to enter the fray. For more than a year, protesters have disrupted virtually every large meeting held by the major international financial institutions. Over the same period, hundreds of companies have been besieged by street demonstrations, politically motivated computer hackers, consumer boycotts and social-agenda litigation. The problem will not go away.

Although business leaders may find it difficult to engage extremists who sponsor Web sites like www.destroyimf.org, they must respond to the broader public concerns symbolized by the rioters in Seattle and the rock throwers in Prague. "If corporate executives allow the lunatic fringe to distract them from the important underlying issues, or if they leave the debate about globalization to the politicians and the nongovernmental organizations [NGOs], we will be making a huge mistake, and we will pay heavily for it," says Paul Laudicina, A.T. Kearney vice president and managing director of Kearney's Global Business Policy Council in Alexandria, Va.

"Every finance executive of a major international company knows that the company's fortunes are a function of the free flow of goods, services and ideas," notes Laudicina. "They've benefited from globalization, and they need to be concerned about whether the macroeconomic conditions for globalization will continue. Globalization has been a function of policy liberalization over the past decades, turbocharged by technology. Finance executives must be concerned about the backlash because if there is a shift in policy away from liberalization and back into an era of trade conflict, economic growth and corporate earnings will be deeply affected. That's why global corporate leaders must engage in the debate." Executives with foresight are working to shape public opinion and create corporate programs that address the issues.