[act-ma] 1/07, 14, 21 The politics of defense spending: science, profits, and endless wars

[Charlie Welch]

      The politics of defense spending: science, profits, and endless wars

/Subrata Ghoshroy, Research Affiliate/

*Enrollment:* Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 59 participants
*Attendance:* Participants welcome at individual sessions
*Prereq:* An interest in science, militarism, foreign policy, gov't

After the end of World War II, U.S. embarked upon a policy to spend 
large sums of money for defense. It was a two-pronged strategy to at 
once fight communism, and spur economic growth. A big part of the 
defense budget was for weapons R&D in order to gain a "technology-edge" 
over the USSR. The strategy continues nearly 30 years after the Cold War 
ended. Today, the U.S. defense budget is over $700 billion per year, 
which is more than the combined spending of the next ten nations. It 
includes more than $80 billion for weapons R&D. An 
unfathomable $1-trillion will be spent on nuclear weapons modernization 
over the next 30 years, shortchanging research on climate change, e.g., 
and many other social needs. The course will present a brief history of 
the "military-indistrial complex," the defense budget and associated 
politics, profits and waste in weapons R&D,  whistleblowing, and the 
endless wars. In recent years "Artificial Intelligence" (AI) has become 
a focus of attention for governments, the media and universities.  Iin 
his guest lecture, Yarden Katz will discuss the forces behind the 
so-called AI “revolution” - who profits from its various narratives and 
how. He is a Fellow in Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School, and 
received a PhD in neuroscience from MIT in 2014.

The sessions:

1/7 The politics of defense spending

1/14 Artificial Intelligence (AI): /hype and reality/  (Guest Lecture by 
Yarden Katz, Harvard)

1/21 Defense R&D: science, profits, waste, and whistle blowing


*Sponsor(s):* Science, Technology, and Society
*Contact:* Subrata Ghoshroy, E51-296, 617 253-3846, GHOSHROY at MIT.EDU 
<mailto:GHOSHROY at MIT.EDU>

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Add to Calendar <http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns331.html#> 	Jan/07 	Tue 
05:45PM-07:00PM 	2-105, The politics of defense spending
Add to Calendar <http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns331.html#> 	Jan/14 	Tue 
05:45PM-07:00PM 	2-105, AI: Hype and Reality (Yarden Katz, Harvard)
Add to Calendar <http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns331.html#> 	Jan/21 	Tue 
05:45PM-07:00PM 	2-105, Defense R&D

/Subrata Ghoshroy - Research Affiliate/

/http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns331.html
/