Ultimately, then, this is not simply about predicting the behavior of diverse populations and social groups.
The Pentagon wants the ability to use this predictive capacity to manipulate human behavior, and thereby win wars.
One explicit discussion of this goal was recently published by the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) in its 2016 Research Topics monograph, which highlighted subjects considered high priority by experts across the US Special Forces (SOF) community.
"Defining and understanding the 'human domain' and how SOF can influence cognitive behavior in myriad operational environments continues to be a topic of interest," the JSOU document asserts.
"What affects people's perceptions and decision-making that SOF can favorably influence to prevent/mitigate/deter crisis and conflict? What are the future advanced technologies and cultural social practices for engaging underdeveloped populations in support of partner governments to achieve US interests?"
But what happens if those interests happen to be at odds with popular demands for self-determination, economic independence and resource nationalism? The counter-democratic implications are already on display in US support for brutal autocratic regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
These cases suggest that massive data-mining is designed to help US military agencies influence the "cognitive behaviour" of "underdeveloped populations," so that the governments that rule them may continue conforming to "US interests."
In other words, the US military wants to mine the world's social media footprint to suppress the risk of popular social movements undermining the status quo, at home and abroad.
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