SOAS SPIRIT
6 DECEMBER 2019
FREE
YOUR INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
ISSUE 10
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SOAS delivers specialised training to the British Military
A British soldier (Credit: U.S. Army Europe)
Daniel Selwyn,Decolonising Our Minds SOAS has received up to £400,000 from the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) since the end of 2016, a student-led investigation can reveal. Using Freedom of Information requests, the investigation found that the University has delivered Regional Study Weeks (RSWs) on Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa to the Defence Cultural Specialist Unit (DCSU). RSWs are organised for scholars to explain the historical, cultural, economic, political, and geographical contexts of these regions, including in-depth
case studies and sessions explicitly dedicated to the ‘implications for UK military missions.’ In a recruitment video, the DCSU defines its purpose ‘to understand what’s going on in people’s minds, society’s mind, the cultural mind wherever we operate,’ as a means to ‘demonstrate [the British Army’s] intent.’ ‘Information Manoeuvre’ is a rule under which the DCSU functions in the Force Troops Command Handbook, describing the purpose of the first Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Brigade. This is used as a tool ‘to attack the enemy’s cohesion and willingness to fight, rather than simply destroying their capability. The benefits of cultural advice for military operations is
clear. At best, knowledge of local cultural institutions is useful for crafting more inclusive forms of imperial governance that can incorporate local elites. This further ensures that ‘hearts and minds’ are won in the process of achieving strategic objectives. At worst, this is used to either destroy or ‘neutralise’ potential sites of resistance with insider information. SOAS’s official response to criticism was that it is ‘right and important [that] critical non-Eurocentric perspectives [are] brought to bear on bodies which are engaged with these regions.’ The University also argued that it is entitled to raise finances by Continued on page 3