Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies

Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies
Name	Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies
Established	1951
Type	Research institute
Parent	Columbia University
Location	New York City
Director	(varies)
Website	(omitted)

Contents

Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies is an academic research institute at Columbia University established to study war, peace, and security issues in the post-World War II era. It connects scholarship on World War II, Cold War, Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War with contemporary analyses of NATO, United Nations, European Union, Russian Federation, People's Republic of China and regional conflicts such as those involving Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria.

History

The institute was founded in 1951 amid debates following World War II, the onset of the Cold War, and policy shifts associated with the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and the creation of NATO. Early work engaged topics relevant to George Marshall, Harry S. Truman, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower and events like the Yalta Conference and the Nuremberg Trials. During the 1950s and 1960s its scholars addressed crises such as the Berlin Blockade, the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, linking analyses to institutions including the United Nations Security Council, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. Later decades saw research on détente, SALT, the Iran–Iraq War, the Soviet–Afghan War, and the post-1991 consequences of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with engagement on policy debates tied to figures like Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, and Tony Blair.

The institute's mission integrates historical study of conflicts such as the Thirty Years' War and Napoleonic Wars with modern analysis of strategic doctrines linked to Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, Alfred Thayer Mahan, and Sir Basil Liddell Hart. Research topics include interstate competition involving the United States, China, Russia, and India, nuclear strategy referencing Mutual Assured Destruction, arms-control negotiations such as Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, counterinsurgency studies tied to COIN doctrine and events like the Iraq War, insurgent movements exemplified by Al-Qaeda and ISIS, and peacebuilding efforts associated with Dayton Accords, Oslo Accords, and Good Friday Agreement. The institute advances policy-relevant work on intelligence communities such as the Central Intelligence Agency, MI6, and Mossad as well as international law issues linked to the Geneva Conventions and the International Criminal Court.

Administratively embedded within Columbia University, the institute interfaces with colleges and units including Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia Law School, School of International and Public Affairs, and the Presidential Commission on the Strategic Posture (external partnerships). Governance has included directors and faculty drawn from backgrounds in U.S. Department of Defense, State Department, National Security Council, and research fellows affiliated with think tanks such as the Brookings Institution, Council on Foreign Relations, RAND Corporation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Heritage Foundation and the Atlantic Council. Funding sources historically have included foundations comparable to the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and government-supported grants from agencies like the National Science Foundation and Department of Defense.

The institute contributes to graduate curricula touching on subjects taught in programs at Columbia University and collaborating departments including seminars on International Relations, strategic studies scrutinizing cases like the Falklands War and the Yom Kippur War, courses on intelligence history referencing Venona project and Operation Ajax, and classes on arms-control history centered on treaties such as the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Students engage with archival materials related to figures like Dean Acheson, Robert McNamara, Henry Kissinger, and study methodologies from scholars influenced by Kenneth Waltz, Hans Morgenthau, John Mearsheimer, and Robert Jervis.

The institute hosts and collaborates on centers and projects that examine topics such as nuclear proliferation around North Korea, conventional deterrence in contexts like the Baltic states and Ukraine, cyber conflict involving actors such as Fancy Bear and debates over norms advanced at forums like Tallinn Manual workshops. Projects have examined historical archives connected to Manhattan Project legacies, declassified files from the Central Intelligence Agency, diplomatic collections of the Adlai Stevenson papers, and oral-history projects featuring participants from Tet Offensive, Operation Desert Storm, and Operation Neptune Spear.

Faculty and affiliates publish in journals and venues such as International Security, Foreign Affairs, Journal of Strategic Studies, American Political Science Review, and International Organization, and they contribute to edited volumes about events ranging from the Treaty of Versailles to the Iraq War. The institute convenes conferences and symposia bringing together policymakers from Pentagon, diplomats from United Nations Department of Political Affairs, military officers from commands like U.S. European Command, scholars from Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University, and international participants from institutions such as London School of Economics and Sciences Po.