Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Baram, Uzi
Keywords
Human Terrain System, Anthropological Ethics, Military Engagement
Area of Concentration
Anthropology
Abstract
The development of the Human Terrain System was a unique step in the United States military's counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan because it sought to combine social scientists and anthropological expertise in order to provide the military with a better understanding the cultural environments in which it was operating. This led to a debate in the anthropological community over the ethical soundness of the Human Terrain System and on a larger scale, over the engagement of anthropologists and the United States military. In order to better understand the context of this debate, this thesis examined the historical intersection of anthropology and the military in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War. This identified the Vietnam War as a key turning point for how the military, social scientists and the public viewed the dangers of engagement. The thesis then looked at the current HTS program based on publicly available articles and information on their website then presented stances taken on the program by social scientists. The issues of ethics and the ethical soundness of the program are then explored based on the ambiguous state of anthropological ethics. It becomes clear through contrasting inconsistencies between the American Anthropological Association's Codes of Ethics and how ethical transgressions within anthropology have been dealt with previously, that over-simplified understandings of the military and military operations significantly influence the future of anthropological engagement and threaten the discipline's relevancy in the globalized world.
Recommended Citation
Dolan, Morgan, "The Ethical and Practical Limitations of the Use of Anthropology in The Military" (2012). Theses & ETDs. 4578.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/4578
Rights
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