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Africa: The Minerva Research Initiative – The Military-University-Industry Complex Targets Africa

ByTGN Staff

Jan 24, 2024 #Africa current events, #Africa news, #African agriculture, #African business, #African countries, #African culture, #African development, #African economy, #African education, #African energy, #African entertainment, #African environment, #African health, #African leaders, #African politics, #African society, #African sports, #African technology, #African tourism, #Breaking news Africa

The Pentagon launched the Minerva Research Initiative in 2008 as a “DoD-sponsored, university-based social science research initiative that focuses on areas of strategic importance to the US national security policy.”  It is intended “to identify and support basic social science research issues in need of attention and to integrate those research insights into the policy-making environment.”  Each spring, the DoD announces three-year grants (which can be extended up to five years.

In his announcement of grants on 24 February 2022, Dr. Bindu Nair, the then Director, Basic Research Office in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, stated that “the knowledge and methodologies generated from Minerva awardees have improved DoD’s ability to define sources of present and future conflict with an eye toward better understanding the political trajectories of key regions of the world.”

In FY 2021, the Minerva Research Initiative announced $28.7 million in grants to 17 university-based faculty teams to support research in social and behavioral science.  Grants awarded for 2022-2024 include projects on the national security implications of climate change, US relations with Russia and China, and the impact of climate change on the Sahel.  Dr. Leonardo Villalon of the University of Florida received a grant as principal investigator for a project on “Social and Institutional Determinants of Vulnerability and Resilience to Climate Hazards in the African Sahel.”

In his announcement of grants on 26 May 2023, Dr. David Montgomery, director of social sciences in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, stated that “leveraging the strengths of the nation’s academic research institutions helps DoD define sources of present and future conflicts, with an eye toward better understanding the social and political trajectories of key regions of the world.”