Mailing address
Littauer
Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs
79 John F. Kennedy St.
Cambridge, MA, 02138
High Res Photo
Ernest R. May
Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science International Affairs
Contact:
Telephone: (617)-495-1109
Fax: (617)-495-8963
Email: ernest_may@harvard.edu
Experience
Ernest R. May is an authority on the history of international relations. He has been professor of History since 1963 and Charles Warren Professor of History since 1981. In 1969-1972, he was Dean of Harvard College and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He was Director of the Institute of Politics from 1971 to 1974, Chairman of the Department of History from 1976 to 1979, and Director of the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History for 1995 to 1998. In 1997-1998 he was Alfred Vere Harmsworth Professor in the University of Oxford.
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Professor May holds A.B. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California at Los Angeles. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been a consultant at various times to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Smithsonian Institution, and committees of the Congress, and the National Intelligence Council. He is a longtime member and former Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the Joint Military Intelligence College.
His publications include The World War & American Isolation 1914-17 (1959), The Ultimate Decision: The President as Commander in Chief (1960), Imperial Democracy: The Emergence of America as a Great Power (1961), American Imperialism: A Speculative Essay (1968), 'Lessons' of the Past: The Use and Misuse of History in American Foreign Policy (1973), The Making of the Monroe Doctrine (1975), A Proud Nation (l983), Knowing One's Enemies: Intelligence Assessment Before the Two World Wars (1985), and (with Richard E. Neustadt) Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision-Makers (1986). In 1988, he and Richard Neustadt received the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. His most recent publications are American Cold War Strategy: Interpreting NSC 68 (1993), (with Philip D. Zelikow) The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis(1997), and Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France (2000).
In addition to teaching undergraduate courses on the Cold War and the Vietnam War and undergraduate and graduate courses on the history of international relations, Professor May teaches in the John F. Kennedy School of Government courses on reasoning from history and assessing other governments. At the Kennedy School, he also directed an Intelligence Policy Program, studying relationships between intelligence analysis and policymaking.
June 2007
"An Identity of Opinion: Historians and July 1914"
Journal Article, The Journal of Modern History, issue 2, volume 79
By Samuel R. Williamson and Ernest R. May, Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program
"Despite all our accumulated information about 1914, we are still very far from being clear as to what men in power understood to be happening, why they thought it mattered, or how they assessed their action choices."
February 2007
Dealing with Dictators: Dilemmas of U.S. Diplomacy and Intelligence Analysis, 1945-1990
Book
By Ernest R. May, Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program and Philip D. Zelikow, Former Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program
The United States continues to proclaim its support for democracy and its opposition to tyranny, but American presidents often have supported dictators who have allied themselves with the United States. This book illustrates the chronic dilemmas inherent in U.S. dealings with dictators under conditions of uncertainty and moral ambiguity.
February 2007
"Introduction: Seven Tenets"
Book Chapter
By Ernest R. May, Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program and Philip D. Zelikow, Former Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program
"Almost from the beginning, a central theme of U.S. foreign policy has
been support for democracy against dictatorship...."
February 2007
"China, 1945-1948: Making Hard Choices"
Book Chapter
By Ernest R. May, Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program
"Two years after World War II, the United States faced the possibility of becoming involved in a civil war in China...."
February 2007
"The Congo, 1960-1963: Weighing Worst Choices"
Book Chapter
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program and Ernest R. May, Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program
"On June 30, 1960, the former Belgian Congo became independent...."
February 2007
"Iraq, 1988-1990: Unexpectedly Heading toward War"
Book Chapter
By Ernest R. May, Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program and Philip D. Zelikow, Former Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program
"In mid-1989, President George H.W. Bush attended a meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the final draft of National Security Directive 26 (NSD-26), which defined U.S. policy toward the Persian Gulf...."
February 2007
"Learning from the Cases"
Book Chapter
By Ernest R. May, Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program and Philip D. Zelikow, Former Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program
"...these cases were designed for and used in executive program classes for senior managers in the U.S. intelligence community...."
May 23, 2005
When Government Writes History: A Memoir of the 9/11 Commission
Magazine or Newspaper Article, The New Republic, (Cover Story), issue 4,714, volume 232
By Ernest R. May, Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program
Spring 2005
"Correspondence: Sins of Commission? Falkenrath and His Critics"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 4, volume 29
By Ernest R. May, Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program, Philip D. Zelikow, Former Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program and Richard A. Falkenrath, Former Assistant Professor of Public Policy; Former Principal Investigator, Executive Session on Domestic Preparedness
Ernest May and Philip Zelikow dispute several points made by Richard Falkenrath in his review of The 9/11 Commission Report. Falkenrath replies to their criticisms.
July 22, 2004
The 9/11 Commission Report
Book
By Bonnie Jenkins, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Managing the Atom Project, 2004-2005, Philip D. Zelikow, Former Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program and Ernest R. May, Faculty Affiliate, International Security Program
