The US War Department and the STEM Recalibration

Chaitanya Giri

05 Dec 2025 — 1 min read

The formation of the US’ War Department has triggered a global recalibration of STEM talent migration.

The United States (US) is a significant investor in research and development (R&D) across various sectors, and its military R&D is a key driver of its superpower status. As per 2022 statistics, the US Department of Defense (DoD) consumes 38 percent of the total federal R&D funds. In 2023, the US defence R&D spending saw a massive hike, from US$73 billion in 2022 to US$89 billion, signalling preparation for major conflicts. In 2024, the DoD accounted for nearly 40 percent of the world's defence spending. For a long time, such extensive R&D spending drew science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent from around the world, reinforcing US technological, economic and cultural power. This “American Dream” drew talent to work at the cutting edge of STEM, which had a big indirect DoD imprint via universities, national labs, startups, and the big defence contractors. However, for many domestic and international reasons, it has now mutated into the Department of War. This shift comes at a time when the US polity is becoming inward-looking and illiberal with overseas talent, raising a question of whether global STEM talent would empower the Department of War as it did its earlier avatar, the DoD?

Read the original and longer version of this Expert Speak on the Observer Research Foundation website through this weblink - https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/the-us-war-department-and-the-stem-recalibration

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