The History and Public Policy Program makes key foreign policy records accessible and supports scholarship on international affairs, past and present. It works to expand access to primary source materials from archives around the world and to facilitate research grounded in documentary evidence.
By bringing 20th and 21st century international history into contemporary policy discussions, the program provides context for debates on diplomacy, security, nuclear policy, regional conflicts and global governance. Its work strengthens understanding of how historical decisions continue to shape today’s international landscape.
The program supports fellows, researchers and students engaged in archival research and encourages exchange between historians and policy practitioners. Through publications and scholarly collaboration, it connects historical inquiry with ongoing policy conversations.
For over three decades, the project has been a leading force in opening the historical record of the Cold War, supporting the full and prompt release of materials by governments on all sides of the conflict, and publishing an unprecedented collection of documents that have transformed how scholars understand the era.
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The Nuclear Proliferation International History Project (NPIHP) was founded in 2011 with the generous support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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The Critical Oral History Conference Series is a cornerstone project of the History and Public Policy Program. Based on the methodology first pioneered by scholars James Blight, Janet Lang and colleagues, the series represents the juncture between the fields of history and public policy.
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