On the FP blog (via Inside Higher Ed), Marc Lynch discusses the influx of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan into academia and how this will affect the field of Middle Eastern Studies (“Near Eastern Studies” at Cornell):
[The influx of veterans] is something I’ve thought about a lot, especially since agreeing to take over as the director of the Middle East Studies program at the Elliott School of International Affairs. Graduate programs in political science and Middle East Studies have already begun to see a steady flow of applicants back from Iraq (including, among many others, my research assistant from last year). I expect that over the next decade, this will turn into a flood as smart, young veterans look to put their experiences into a broader perspective and to apply their hard-won granular knowledge to broader academic and policy problems. (And not only military veterans — there are plenty of civilians, contractors, and NGO workers who have worked in Iraq as well.) Most will pursue MA degrees, while some percentage will decide to continue on to a Ph.D. I think this an unequivocally good thing — and I wonder if people have given serious thought to how it might change the field of Middle East studies.
Lynch goes on to say that he doubts that the inflow of veterans into academia will result in more “right leaning” departments but might instead push the academic emphasis towards pragmatism and empiricism over ideological doctrine. I would disagree on this point. My father tells me that at least at the undergraduate level, veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan tend to bring a distinct conservative message to classroom discussions. Moreover, at higher levels of academia, it sounds like “pragmatism and empiricism” could serve as watered down substitutes for “conservatism.”
It will be interesting to see how the flow of returning veterans will affect the overall political atmosphere at American colleges- both within academic departments and at the undergraduate level. My guess is that we shouldn’t expect a complete turnaround in the liberal tendencies of most American institutions of higher education- there simply aren’t that many returning soldiers to lead the cause- but that the influx of veterans will bring some moderating influences to many undergrad classrooms. If some of these veterans pursue doctorates and end up in teaching positions, we may definitely see more favorable accounts/understandings of Iraq and Afghanistan emerging in academic circles in the coming years.
