ALLIES hosts annual conference

    The Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES) is leading its second annual "Intellectual Roundtable" this week, bringing dozens of military and academic experts to campus to discuss cooperation between civil and military enterprises.
    The three-day-long event is set to kick off tonight with a keynote address from Antonia Chayes, the author of "Planning for Intervention: International Cooperation in Conflict Management."
    The title of this year's roundtable is "Increasing National Participation in Security and Defense."
    Students and experts will examine the role of social sciences in the U.S. military and take a look at the military's connections to politics. These ties are particularly relevant given the high number of military officials who have endorsed a presidential candidate this cycle. 
    Of particular interest will be Defense Secretary Robert Gates' Minerva initiative, which allocates millions of dollars to support academic researchers' work on projects that do things like examine the connections between religion and terrorism and archive documents on Chinese military doctrines.
    "That's probably one of the most important topics we're going to be discussing," said ALLIES member Chas Morrison, a sophomore.
     Minerva draws on the social sciences to improve war-fighting capacities, according to Morrison, a Tufts Community Union senator. While the initiative has tangible benefits, it has also received criticism regarding this type of intersection between academics and the military.
    The ALLIES symposium's programming will involve panel discussions, including "Strange Bedfellows? The DoD and the Social Sciences" and "The Imminent Challenge: Transitioning Security in Fragile States," and a screening of the film "Hidden Wounds," a documentary about soldiers coping with post-traumatic stress disorder.
    The symposium will close on Friday with a second keynote address, this one by Andrew Bacevich, author of "The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism."
    As of two weeks ago, ALLIES had received 20 confirmations of attendance from experts, including faculty from the U.S. Naval Academy at West Point, scholars from George Mason University and professors from the Fletcher School. But Morrison anticipates that there will be between 30 and 40 attendees.
    The panel discussions, which will each feature three or four experts, will be open to all students. ALLIES students and visiting students will also attend a number of smaller conferences with distinguished guests.
    Twenty to 30 Tufts students will take part in these conferences, where they will be joined by students from the Naval Academy and Air Force.
    "That's one of the really unique assets to an intellectual roundtable," Morrison said. "We're going to be sitting down with people from all sides of the table."