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SHAFR Opinion

Why Do We Fight in Afghanistan?

by Susan Brewer

More people have been asking that question lately. For years Americans have been told that despite setbacks we are making progress there. Making progress toward what, people wonder. What is the mission of the United States in Afghanistan? After more than a decade since the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom, it is worth revisiting what [...]

A Center-Left Leader, Missed Opportunities, and Anti-Americanism: A Possible new Direction in U.S. Policy Towards the Western Hemisphere?

by James Siekmeier

I received an email from a former colleague and friend of mine recently who concluded that Lula’s (Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva) two terms in office as President of Brazil (2003-2010) represented a missed opportunity for the United States–and United States-Latin American relations in general. Here was a center-left leader, in one of the world’s [...]

A New Cold War at the Water’s Edge?

by Andrew Johnstone

An essential rule for politicians: always make sure the microphone is off.  On March 26 at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, Barack Obama was overheard discussing missile defence with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. With an open mic, Obama told Medvedev “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.”[1] Russia currently [...]

Is the System the Solution? Past Policies, Current Dilemmas, and Inter-American Relations in the 21st Century

by James Siekmeier

More than 20 years have passed since the last full-fledged U.S. military intervention in Latin America (Panama, 1989, in case your memories are hazy).  Starting in the 1980s, democratization flowered in the region for numerous reasons—but mostly internal reasons based in Latin American history and society. Starting in the 1990s, with the end of the [...]

Visions of War

by Susan Brewer

On December 15th President Barack Obama welcomed home U.S. troops from a war he once had called “dumb.” His speech avoided the reasons why the Iraq War was fought and focused instead on honoring the American servicemen and women who fought it.  Inspiring words–“extraordinary achievement,” “honor,” “sacrifice,” “finest fighting force,” “unbroken line of heroes,” “progress [...]

Newt Gingrich and the (ab)Uses of History

by Andrew Johnstone

It is an honor to join the SHAFR blogging team for 2011-12.  While SHAFR is (as the name makes perfectly clear) a society that focuses on the history of American foreign relations, there is no doubt that we are as well placed as anyone to make connections between historical events and contemporary issues in American [...]

Issues for the 2012 Presidential Election

by Nick Sarantakes

The United States of America is about to enter a presidential election year.  Actually, it already has entered the political season.  The election of 2012 will most likely turn on economics, but as Andy Johns pointed out in his blog, foreign policy is always important and next year’s contest will be no different.  In addition, [...]

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Funding

Below is a list of funding opportunities for those interested in American foreign relations.  Many of these links were harvested from Nick Sarantakes’s excellent U.S. Diplomatic History Resources Index. SHAFR also generously funds research in the field.  For a list of the Society’s prizes and fellowships, please click here.

Arnold A. Saltzman Institute for War and Peace at Columbia University

Association for Asian Studies

Center for Military History

Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) Scholarships

Dirksen Congressional Center Research Awards

Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library Abilene Travel Grants

Ernest May Fellowships, Belfer Center, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Fulbright Scholars Program

George Bush Presidential Library Grants and Scholarships

George C. Marshall Foundation, Marshall-Baruch Fellowship

Gerald Ford Presidential Library Research Travel Grants

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

John F. Kennedy Library Grants and Fellowships

Princeton University Library Research Grants

White House Fellowships

Woodrow Wilson International Center Fellowships

H.F. Guggenheim Foundation Research Grants

Hoover Presidential Library Travel Grants

Kennedy Presidential Library Research Grants

National Endowment for the Humanities Grants Program

Naval Historical Center Hooper Research Grants

Travel Grants, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming

Travel and Research Grants, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan

Rockefeller Foundation Grants

Roosevelt Presidential Library Grants

Rose and Sigmund Strochlitz Travel Grants, University of Connecticut Libraries

Truman Presidential Library Grants Program

Morris K. Udall Archives Research Travel Grant, University of Arizona

U.S. Institute of Peace Grants

U.S. Institute of Peace Jennings Randolph Senior Fellowship

U.S. Institute of Peace Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar Dissertation Fellowship

Suggestions for funding resources to add?  Please contact us.