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 

“History doesn’t give you a template of answers, but it does help you refine the questions you have to ask yourself. Further, you recognize there is nothing so unique that you’ve got to go to extraordinary lengths to deal with it.” – General James Mattis, interview with Military History, 2015

(More Quotes ») 

Article of the Week 

“‘Everything After This Will Be Harder’: Gen. Stanley McChrystal on Iran” – David French, The New York Times, March 23, 2026.

While sequential events between the 1979 Revolution and Iran’s support for terrorists during US operations in Iraq reinforced the view in America that Iran was “a recalcitrant enemy,” Gen. McChrystal points out that “for an Iranian, it really starts in 1953” with US covert action to overthrow Iran’s elected leader. “If we don’t understand that journey to this point, we don’t understand the attitudes that are going to drive decisions people make.” Further, McChrystal argues that Trump has fallen victim to the same “three great seductions” that have often tempted American leaders: that covert action, Special Operations raids, and air power alone can achieve grand political objectives for near-zero cost.