The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is pleased to announce Seth Center as a new senior fellow and the director of the Project on History and Strategy in the Brzezinski Institute on Geostrategy. Dr. Center’s work at CSIS will employ a historical lens to examine the contemporary national security agenda, develop applied history findings to inform responses to future challenges, and connect diplomatic and military historians to the policy community.
Prior to joining CSIS, Dr. Center served at the National Security Council (NSC) and the U.S. Department of State. He served as director for National Security Strategy and History at the NSC from 2017-2019, where he helped conceptualize and write the 2017 National Security Strategy. Dr. Center joined the NSC staff as a historian in the fall of 2016 to document the evolution of key national security initiatives of the Obama administration. As a State Department historian, he produced policy-supportive historical research and analysis on a broad array of subjects including the Iraq War, post-conflict and stabilization operations, strategic communications and public diplomacy, and the organization and development of U.S. diplomacy.
“Seth’s recent strategy work at the NSC and background as a historian will help CSIS further develop the historical context for thoughtful and strategic policy solutions to the national security challenges that face the United States,” said John J. Hamre, CSIS President and CEO. “We are delighted to have Seth join the team and look forward to his important work.”
Dr. Center received his PhD in diplomatic history from the University of Virginia and his BA from Cornell University in history and government.
