Military Social Science Funding

According to today's Washington Post:

The Pentagon's $50 million Minerva Research Initiative, named after the Roman goddess of wisdom and warriors, will fund social science research deemed crucial to national security. Initial proposals were due July 25, and the first grants are expected to be awarded by year's end.

But the Network of Concerned Anthropologists, which includes professors from American and George Mason universities, said dependence on Pentagon funding could make universities an "instrument rather than a critic of war-making."

In a May 28 letter to federal officials, the American Anthropological Association said that it was of "paramount importance . . . to study the roots of terrorism and other forms of violence" but that its members are "deeply concerned that funding such research through the Pentagon may pose a potential conflict of interest."

Here is a Wired Blog post with more information.

Comment: I lived and worked in Chile in the 1960's as a Peace Corps Volunteer and Ford Foundation Consultant, and am more aware than most Americans of the disaster that was the DoD-run Camelot program (to study the sources of political unrest and revolution in developing nations). In my years 20 years in science policy and research management in USAID I was very aware of the draconian limits placed by the Congress on social science research to prevent a recurrence of the Camelot type disaster.

I agree that social science research is hugely important. I also think that the idea of having social science experts (with relevant cultural experience and knowledge) advice our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan is important, both at the strategic and at the tactical level. Certainly the military needs help to understand how to use such advice, but I would see American social science as having a responsibility to offer such advisory services.

However, I am concerned about the allocation of funds among U.S. Government funding agencies for social science research relating to foreign policy. A $50 million initiative is pretty small when compared to the DoD budget, but it is a lot compared to the total of U.S. social science research funding available for international work. I would like to see more social science funding in agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the State Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development with this international orientation--especially NSF. I think investigator initiated research in this field is especially valuable. JAD