A NEW report by Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) and Demilitarise Education (dED) gives a detailed analysis of how universities are working with the arms industry and military, to research and develop technologies for future warfare.

Titled Weaponising Universities: Research Collaborations between UK Universities and the Military Industrial Complex, the report discusses the ties between British universities, arms companies and the military Establishment — the “military-industrial-academic complex,” their collaboration for military research and dual use systems, and also outlines a series of recommendations and potential solutions.

Marketisation of higher education started in the 1980s when the Tories reduced overall government funding of universities. Their agenda of aligning university research with their economic agenda meant that while universities were getting less funding, private companies, including arms companies, were being invited to start helping that business model.