Contemporary History and International Politics

The world needs better politics: better ways of resolving conflicts and distributing resources more efficiently and equitably. How do we improve policy and forge an effective international system when our traditions of political participation are local and national? The politics of the future is encumbered by the problems of the past.

This interdisciplinary programme seeks to address these problems by bringing together politics and contemporary history, with a particular focus on transnational ideas and institutions. Since the history of international politics has been shaped by longstanding, path-dependent effects, an understanding of contemporary history must underpin national and international public policy decisionmaking. This programme investigates the immediacy of present day politics and the collective memory of politics in the past, its successes and failures.