Is it possible that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates read my post on the Iraq War and Education? Could the up-and-coming WorldWideBlog have reached beyond the confines of higher education to the over-sized Corinthian columns of Capitol Hill? Probably not. But I find it interesting that after five years of trial-and-admitted-error in Iraq, the “powers-that-be” are finally promoting research and education to help improve public policy.

On Monday, Gates announced plans to launch the Minerva Consortia, a joint effort by universities and the Pentagon to bolster programs related to foreign affairs. And though it sounds like an evil neo-Roman secret society, the Consortia plans to look at world issues from a perspective devoid of hard science and technology. What a novel concept.

At first I was excited about the project. I agree wholeheartedly with the use of a more humanitarian approach when it comes to dealing with other countries and their people. Yet when I saw the list of programs on which the Consortia initially plans to focus, I had mixed feelings. Here’s why:

Religious Studies: OK so far. In my earlier post, I discussed the dire need to better understand religious and cultural issues in the Middle East. In his speech to the Association of American Universities, Gates declared:

It has been a long time since religious issues have had to be addressed in a strategic context. A research program along these lines could be an important contribution to the intellectual foundation on which we base national strategy in coming years and decades.

Chinese Military and Technology Studies: This worries me a little. Gates asserted in his talk that China publishes vast amounts of information on its military, and that he’d like universities to begin to create digital archives to house the data. Doesn’t the Pentagon do this already?

Iraqi and Terrorist Perspectives: Here Gates touted a similar program to the one mentioned above–the collection and analysis of documents that might “contain strategic, ideological, and practical considerations…that would be of great interest to scholars.”

New Disciplines: Learning new things? I’m all for learning new things. Gates noted in his speech that “Kremlinology” and game theory both were spawned during the Cold War. And though the subjects he discussed were NOT new (see below), Gates won me over when he said:

The government and the Department of Defense need to engage additional intellectual disciplines, such as history,anthropology, sociology, and evolutionary
psychology.

Bravo!

So, is this exactly what I had in mind when I promoted the expansion of curricula in foreign languages, international relations, and religious studies a few weeks back? Not really. At first glance, the Minerva Consortia looks like the government trying to tap university resources to expand the gamut of intelligence analysts at its disposal. Nevertheless, with respect to Minerva, the Roman incarnation of the goddess of wisdom, it’s a start.