The U.S. Military and Human Geography: Reflections on Our Conjuncture

Abstract

In recent years, the U.S. military-intelligence community has shown a growing interest in human geography. This article examines the available literature to consider this trend. I contend that the growing military-intelligence use of human geography, both as a concept and as a practice, deserves critical scrutiny. Although military involvement in geographical research is a long-standing and well-recognized fact, the growing emphasis on human geography per se marks a notable shift: not only a change in terminology—from anthropology of human terrain to human geography and geospatial intelligence—but also a shift in underlying military strategy and concepts. Because this shift has potentially profound implications for the discipline, substantive debate over the military's employment of human geography is urgently needed.