Armed with Practice: Learning to Engage with the Military

Abstract

Political scientists and the international development community have strong formal and informal norms that create barriers to engaging with the U.S. military. Nowhere are these tensions greater felt than in the actual battlefield. With the evolution of contemporary counterinsurgency strategy, the military has reached out to both social scientists and the development community. Instead of closing doors to the military, all parties would be better served if they opened their doors to dialogue. Most importantly, engaging the military constructively will actually help save civilian lives, rather than endanger them.