Horowitz Spends Year at Pentagon

Associate Professor of Political Science Michael C. Horowitz spent 2013 at the Department of Defense, working as a government insider on national security issues he had previously studied as an academic outsider. Horowitz, whose research generally focuses on technological military innovation, worked at the Pentagon on a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship. The program offers mid-career scholars and professionals an opportunity to advance their analytic capabilities and broaden their foreign policy experience through government service.

In his position working in the Force Development Office, in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Horowitz worked on memos, “read-aheads,” and presentations focused on the office’s mission to determine the kinds of tanks, planes, weapons, and troops that the U.S. will need in the next generation. He was involved with issues ranging from how defense budget cuts would affect U.S. military strategy in Asia to supporting the research and writing of the Quadrennial Defense Review, a congressionally mandated review of U.S. defense strategy conducted every four years.

Horowitz also spent time reviewing aspects of U.S. policy regarding unmanned aerial systems, an activity that involved working with counterparts from the State Department, White House, and Department of Commerce, among others.

He will share some of his insights, which have informed both his research and his teaching, at an April 15 Penn Lightbulb Café talk, “Who's Afraid of Killer Robots? How Robotics, 3-D Printing, and Other Innovations Will Affect the Future of War," at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia from 6 to 7 p.m.

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