Mark Kramer is the director of the Cold War Studies Project at the Davis Center. He is the author and/or editor of several books and has written nearly 200 articles on a variety of topics. He has worked extensively in newly opened archives in all the former Warsaw Pact countries and several Western countries. He edits both the Harvard Cold War Studies Book Series and the peer-reviewed Journal of Cold War Studies.

My Insights:

Remembering Nicholas Daniloff (1934-2024)

October 29, 2024

Long-time Davis Center associate Nicholas Daniloff, a journalist held captive by the KGB in 1986, is remembered by friend and colleague Mark Kramer, director of our Cold War Studies Project.

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At Vnukovo Airport before the meeting with Russian citizens returning to the Motherland following a prisoner swap.

From Cold War-Era Spy Swaps to Kidnapping and Criminality in the Putin Era

August 6, 2024

After the 24-person prisoner exchange with Russia, our Cold War Studies director Mark Kramer explores the changing nature of such East-West trades over the decades, including the stark contrast between those whom Russia released and those it welcomed home, as well as the "moral hazard" this entails for the West.

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Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022): Magnificent Achievements, Monumental Failures

September 2, 2022

Gorbachev’s brief but tumultuous tenure as leader of the Soviet Union brought about immense shifts in the course of world history, writes Mark Kramer.

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My Events:

Remembering the Work of Priscilla McMillan

Friday, May 6, 2022
12:30 to 3pm EDT

In person

Online

This special seminar is in memory of Priscilla Johnson McMillan, a long-time associate of Harvard's Russian Research Center (now the Davis Center), who died at age 92 in July 2021.

Recording Available

James G. Hershberg

Professor of History, George Washington University

Nicholas Daniloff

Max Holland

Editor, Washington Decoded

Thomas Powers

Free-Lance Journalist and Author Specializing in National Security and Foreign Intelligence

Fredrik Logevall

Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government

Mark Kramer

Director, Cold War Studies Project, Davis Center

The Closure of Memorial in Russia and the Repercussions from Putin's War against Ukraine

Tuesday, March 1, 2022
12:30 to 1:45pm EST

Online

This seminar explores the connections between Putin's repression of human rights at home and his bellicose policies abroad.

Recording Available

Joshua Rubenstein

Associate Director, Major Gifts, Harvard Law School

Tatiana Yankelevich

Independent Scholar

Mark Kramer

Director, Cold War Studies Project, Davis Center

Nadia Boyadjieva

Professor of International Law and International Relations, Institute for Balkan Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

The Soviet Union and European Neutral and Non-Aligned Countries during the Cold War

Friday, November 19, 2021
4:30 to 6:15pm EST

Online

The Soviet Union and Cold War Neutrality and Nonalignment in Europe examines how neutral European countries and the USSR interacted after World War II.

Recording Available

Günter Bischof

University Research & Marshall Plan Professor of History, University of New Orleans

Anna Steiner

Research Associate, Boltzmann Institute for Research on War's Consequences

Nadia Boyadjieva

Professor of International Law and International Relations, Institute for Balkan Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Mark Kramer

Director, Cold War Studies Project, Davis Center

Polish Foreign Intelligence Assistance to the U.S. Military during the 1991 Gulf War: Switching Sides after the Cold War

Tuesday, November 16, 2021
12:30 to 2pm EST

Online

Join John Pomfret as he discusses his new book From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance. Out October 26, 2021

Recording Available