Can academia be bought by ideological lobbyists? What about prestige academia?
Here is a stunning piece in the Yale Globalist (passed along by the tireless Bob Feldman) about a study on mathematical models for counter-terrorism strategy that has been undertaken by a Yale professor of management in conjunction with an Israeli dean at the Technion (Israel's MIT). How did this partnership come about? For ideological reasons; because a New York Jewish real-estate magnate named Daniel Rose was enraged by the academic boycott in England and set out to counter it. Globalist:
Rose
sought a way to show solidarity with Israelis and to demonstrate that
the American academic community would not follow Britain’s behavior. In
an interview with the Globalist, he explained the message he hoped to
convey: “Not only are American institutions not closing down discourse,
but they are ready to expand discourse with Israeli academics.”
…In response
to the boycott, Rose, an elderly Jewish man with connections to Yale
University and Israel’s Technion Institute, decided to launch a program
that would facilitate dialogue between the two renowned universities.
Given Israel’s expertise in the field, Rose saw international terrorism
as a logical focus.
Because he was familiar with the
philosophies of both universities— he is a Yale alumnus, and an
honorary lifetime member of the Technion board—Rose believed that
collaboration between Yale SOM and Technion could yield “a very happy
relationship.” He contacted the American Technion Society (ATS), an
organization that facilitates American coordination with Technion, to
see if any collaboration already existed between the two schools.
To
Rose’s delight, ATS connected him with [Yale's Edward] Kaplan, who had previously
worked with Technion’s [Boaz] Golany on a project that modeled resource
allocation in counterterrorism spending. The two were keen to further
their partnership. Encouraged by their enthusiasm, Rose donated $1.3
million in May for three years of collaborative research with virtually
no stipulations.
…[B]oth Kaplan and Golany see the value in fostering
connections with their respective governments. Kaplan hopes to share
his findings with agencies like the FBI, the CIA, the department of
defense, and various municipal police departments. He is encouraged by
what he described as “terrific lines of communication going on with
officials in the right places.” In Israel, Golany said he enjoys “close
collaboration with defense agencies,” providing both unclassified and
confidential information for their use.
I'm sure Kaplan and Golany are smart guys. But this is about the instrumentalization of scholarship: using big money to gain prestige for a particular policy, in this case the bad idea that Israel and the U.S. are in the same war. Yale is being used, the way thinktanks are used.
What would happen if a Yale scholar wanted to study the Israel lobby's effect on our foreign policy? Could he get funding?
By the way, Daniel Rose, who subsidized this amazing venture, is the father of Gideon Rose, the managing editor of Foreign Affairs, the journal of the Council on Foreign Relations. Foreign Affairs published an attack on Walt and Mearsheimer's book two years back written by Walter Russell Mead. Like father, like son? Well– I wonder.
