Applied History Project

The mission of Harvard’s Applied History Project is to revitalize applied history by promoting the production and use of historical reasoning to clarify public and private challenges and choices. Founded by Professors Graham Allison and Niall Ferguson in 2016, the Applied History Project builds upon the foundation laid by Professors Ernest May and Richard Neustadt in the 1980s, reflected in their book Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision Makers. 

Advancing its mission, the Project sponsors the Applied History Working Group of faculty members across Harvard University to organize discussions with scholars and practitioners; supports historians and policymakers in producing Applied History; develops courses in Applied History; funds the Ernest May Fellowships in History and Policy for pre- and post-doctoral students; and holds Applied History Events open to the Harvard Community and the public. Harvard’s project is one of the leaders among a rapidly expanding network of universities and think tanks that are furthering the discipline of Applied History by clarifying predicaments and choices to inform better decisions.

The Project gratefully acknowledges the Stanton Foundation's generous support for its Applied History endeavors. 

Quote of the Week 

A deep understanding of history is necessary—not merely recent history which concerns itself with the trivia surrounding conspicuous men and events, but an understanding of that history which records the main currents of the past activities of men and which leads to an understanding of what has created and what has destroyed great civilizations.” – George Marshall, speech at Princeton University (1947).

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Article of the Week 

“Can the U.S. Legally ‘Run’ Venezuela After Maduro’s Capture? Here’s What to Know.” – Charlie Savage, The New York Times, January 3, 2025.

As foreign policy analysts continue to digest and debate the US military’s successful extraction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Savage revisits insights from the US’s analogous invasion of Panama in 1989 to propose answers to outstanding questions like “Is it legal for the US to ‘run’ Venezuela,” “Does the UN prohibition matter under US law?”, and “Does Maduro have immunity as a head of state?” For example, in 1989, President Bush’s Justice Department and US courts ruled that the US government could deploy federal agents abroad to arrest “fugitives from US criminal charges” and that Noriega did not enjoy immunity, since he was an illegitimate head of state.