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 ResponseBuilding 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 Project on History and Strategy Content
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On Demand: Women and Statecraft History Rollout
Event — December 1, 2020
Women and Statecraft History: A Compilation of Personal Essays by Women Historians
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
Event — October 8, 2020
Online Event: How Ike Led: A Conversation with Susan Eisenhower
Event — September 10, 2020
Online Event: After Disruption: Historical Perspectives on the Future of International Order
Event — September 2, 2020
After Disruption: Historical Perspectives on the Future of International Order
Report by Seth Center and Emma Bates — September 2, 2020
Online Event: Memory Wars
Event — August 12, 2020
Online Event: The New China Rules
Event — August 5, 2020
Making the Most of a Crisis: What Sputnik Should Have Taught Us
Report by Emma Bates — May 19, 2020
Book Talk: The Great Rift
Event — February 6, 2020