Research Initiatives

We are constantly in pursuit of new knowledge. Our scholars rethink frameworks, convene new conversations, and deliver cutting-edge analysis. Through collaboration and innovation, we are reimagining what regional scholarship should look like.

A bold initiative to foster innovative scholarship and learning while bringing regional studies closer to practice.

The Cold War Studies Project promotes archival research in former East-bloc countries and seeks to expand and enrich what is known about Cold War events and themes. More important, it encourages scholars and students to use their research on Cold War topics to illuminate current theoretical debates about international and domestic politics.

Scholar-Entrepreneur Initiative

The Program on Central Asia promotes research and teaching at Harvard on the history and current affairs of five Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Advancing the study of Georgia and the South Caucasus through research and scholarly exchange, teaching, and outreach.

Scholar-Entrepreneur Initiative

What does it take to reconstruct the spatial history of an empire? We are assembling the data, developing the methods, and testing the limits of mapmaking in an effort to find out.

Scholar-Entrepreneur Initiative

The NTF promotes innovative solutions to contemporary Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security challenges by creating spaces for cross-cultural negotiation research, training, and strategic analysis. We pioneer new models for high-impact knowledge dissemination, train practitioners in advanced negotiation skills, and build long-term conflict management capacity.

The Working Group on the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations convenes rising experts from leading American and Russian institutions to tackle the thorniest issues in the bilateral relationship.