Project on History and Strategy

The Project on History and Strategy continues the Brzezinski legacy of rigorous, uncompromising pursuit of scholarship informing strategic analyses of the world’s most consequential geostrategic challenges

“The American approach to the world is profoundly unhistorical” — Zbigniew Brzezinski

In an era of renewed great power competition, technological revolution, and fundamental changes to the pillars of American strategy, the lessons of history for statecraft could not be more important. Policymakers confronting urgent situations with limited time and energy find themselves relying on platitudes about “a new Marshall Plan,” or “Vietnam all over again,” while professional historians have the time and expertise to dispel those notions and suggest more relevant metaphors. Rather than expecting policymakers to become historians, or vice versa, the solution is to create a marketplace where deep scholarly research can be tailored to the speed of Washington, translated to be useful, and pre-positioned to achieve maximum impact.

(Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Dr. Philip Zelikow joined Seth Center and PHS in September 2019 for a discussion on the decisions and processes that ended the Cold War.)

The Project on History and Strategy continues the Brzezinski legacy of rigorous, uncompromising pursuit of scholarship informing strategic analyses of the world’s most consequential geostrategic challenges. It is a marketplace where policy-oriented historical scholarship is made accessible and useful to current, future and former policymakers. The Project’s goals include encouraging policy-oriented historical research; identifying gaps in the research that would be relevant to today’s policy challenges; developing young and diverse scholars and networking them into the policy community; shaping a cadre of scholar-practitioners who value historical sensibility; and forging the connections needed for policymakers and historians to be more useful to each other.

PHS Insight Memos

Waiting for a Sputnik Moment? Insights from the Eisenhower Administration’s Response
Building an Innovation Infrastructure: Insights from the Rise of the NSF
Soviet and American Science & Technology Policies

 



(Historians Dr. Francis Gavin, and Dr. Melvyn Leffler joined CSIS Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette and PHS's Emma Bates in December 2019 to discuss the pitfalls and attractions of a Cold War analogy for today's competition with China.)

All content by Project on History and Strategy

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On Demand: Women and Statecraft History Rollout

The CSIS Project on History and Strategy is pleased to introduce Women and Statecraft History, a compilation of personal essays by women who have made careers out of studying and applying military and diplomatic history.

Event by Fiona Hill , Sara Bush Castro , Susan Colbourn , Seth Center , and Emma Bates — December 1, 2020

Women and Statecraft History: A Compilation of Personal Essays by Women Historians

The Project on History and Strategy presents "Women and Statecraft History," a compilation of personal essays by women who have made careers out of studying and applying military and diplomatic history.

Report by Seth Center , Fiona Hill , Sara Bush Castro , Elizabeth C. Charles , Susan Colbourn , Sarah-Jane Corke , Michelle Grisé , Marybeth Peterson Ulrich , Stephanie Young , and Emma Bates — December 1, 2020

Online Book Event: H.R. McMaster: Battlegrounds

Please join us for a discussion with former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster on the strategic challenges the United States confronts and the need to restore strategic competence to American statecraft.

Event by Seth Center and Lt. General H.R. McMaster — October 8, 2020

After Disruption: Historical Perspectives on the Future of International Order

The pandemic threatens to disrupt world order. What comes next? Looking across four centuries of upheaval, historians offer their insights. History suggests that if America and its allies cannot adapt, others will be waiting to build a new order in their own likeness.

Report by Seth Center and Emma Bates — September 2, 2020

Online Event: Memory Wars

This is not just about remembering the past - in both Russia and China the story of the The Second World War has been exploited by the current leaders to fuel popular support and appeals to national identity, while academic freedom and scholarship on the war is limited.

Event by Seth Center , Rana Mitter , Nikolay Koposov , and Katie Stallard-Blanchette — August 12, 2020

Online Event: The New China Rules

Please join the Project on History and Strategy for a discussion of the "new China rules" as described by Michael Auslin in his new book, Asia's New Geopolitics.

Event by Jude Blanchette , Seth Center , and Michael Auslin — August 5, 2020

Book Talk: The Great Rift

Please join Seth Center and the Project on History and Strategy for a discussion with James Mann about his new book on the intertwined careers of Dick Cheney and Colin Powell.

Event by Seth Center and James Mann — February 6, 2020