The History and Public Policy Project (HPPP) builds on the Wilson Center’s Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) and its achievements as a clearinghouse and epicenter of a large international network of scholars, teachers, journalists, archivists and policymakers. HPPP serves as a crucial bridge between the scholarly community and the world of public affairs, by creating:

• a non-partisan forum for fast but sober, critical and scholarly assessment of newly-released historical materials and their impact on public policy. Emphasis would be on new historical materials which allow for fresh, unprecedented insights into the inner workings and foreign policies of foreign powers, laying the groundwork for policymakers to gain a more nuanced and informed understanding of countries and issues such as nuclear proliferation, border disputes, crisis management, and various specific trouble spots;
  
• opportunities for incisive reassessment of the methods and processes by which the United States carries out foreign policy analysis and intelligence assessment in order to improve future decision-making. An examination of new archival sources and oral histories will facilitate a better understanding of the effectiveness of U.S. policies and the reactions of other state actors;
  
• a meeting ground for exchange, interaction and collaboration between scholars, journalists, and decision-makers (and their staff), that would provide scholars with access to current and former officials and visa versa. HPPP will seek to integrate the insights of social scientists, natural scientists, technologists, and practitioners with experience in government, diplomacy, the military, and business to provide in-depth context on critical foreign policy issues and identify opportunities for the effective use for history in the policy process; and
  
• a clearing-house to coordinate and make accessible to policymakers new international sources and research on the most pressing threats to US national interests and international security, on the forces shaping these problems, and on their historical and conceptual foundations
  

Related Projects

Cold War International History Project

North Korea International Documentation Project

History and Public Policy Program
Woodrow Wilson Center
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004-3027
Email: happ@wilsoncenter.org