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 

“In order to take a full part in the life which is before you, I think you must in effect relive the past.” – George Marshall, speech at Princeton University, 1947 

(More Quotes ») 

Article of the Week 

“Europe’s necessary appeasement of Donald Trump” – Janan Ganesh, Financial Times, September 24, 2025. 

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Ganesh argues that Europe is making a necessary sacrifice by capitulating to the Trump administration on trade in exchange for continued security cooperation. “History tends to under-reward those leaders who suffer for their successors,” Ganesh states, but history is nonetheless full of examples of leaders who “blew up” their own reputations “to give [their] heirs a fighting chance.” Memorable examples range from Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Kabul to permanently end US losses there, to Neville Chamberlin, who through “appeasement” bought Britain another year to prepare for war.