Our Five Pillars

Community and Fellowship

The National Institute of Cold War Studies is dedicated to promoting fellowship and collaboration between historians. We aim to achieve this goal by fostering communication between members through thought-provoking discussion boards, publishing and reviewing articles, video conferences, and other correspondence. Most notably, NICWS bridges the gap between academic, professional, and lay historians. Our digital nature allows us to bridge previous social gaps such as education, region, employment, resources, or experience. We are committed to creating a community of people passionate about history, whether our members have dedicated their careers to research or pursue knowledge in their spare time. This blend of diverse backgrounds allows members to learn from each other; our community provides amateur historians with professional research methods and professionals with fresh perspectives. NICWS encourages our members to share their experience, questions, and needs with one another to develop and enhance the community of historians.

Productive Collaboration

The National Institute of Cold War Studies encourages our members to submit their research and conclusions for public consideration in various formats: blogs, podcasts, articles, chapters, and/or books. What separates the lay from the professional historian are the results (products) of their labor. The historian’s goal is to expand the collective knowledge and understanding of the past and share their findings with the public. Unfortunately, a historian’s work may not reach the public for a variety of reasons – a lack of resources or exposure, a limited audience due to paywalls, or, in the worst case, a denial of access due to institutional bias. NICWS is committed to overcoming these obstacles through providing our members with the resources and community support necessary to produce historical research, access to a public audience, and a rejection of the censorship of ideas based on political or personal biases. Our organization aims to give all our members, regardless of their experience or point of view, the opportunity to share their research, while maintaining professional historical standards through peer reviews and content examination.

Research and Collections

We need your stories. The National Institute of Cold War Studies is dedicated to collecting and preserving Cold War veteran, civilian, industrial, political, missionary, and government accounts. We believe this underdeveloped area of research is essential in understanding the conflict and in continuing research. NICWS will record and publish these primary sources in an online database, so our members and other researchers can utilize these vital accounts in their work. NICWS differs from other military databases in our inclusivity; veterans’ testimonies are integral, but we need their families’, government officials’, industry workers’, and civilians’ accounts in order to gain a wholistic understanding of the Cold War. We accept written, audio, and video submissions. To submit your story, click this link [insert hyperlink to form].

Resource Distribution

The National Institute of Cold War Studies believes in sharing historical resources. We not only provide our own articles, databases, and other publications, but also highlight other notable contributions to the field of research. Our study guides and lesson plans include connections to other institutions engaged in Cold War research and instructions for understanding how to navigate these resources. NICWS seeks to be a single source for non-Cold War historians to navigate the growing diversity of digital resources and help address corresponding questions on the credibility of online materials.

Online Panel Discussion: “Cold War, Then and Now”

The legacy of the Cold War has massive effects on our current circumstances. The National Institute of Cold War Studies upholds that discussing the foundations of these contemporary issues is essential in understanding them fully. We accomplish this goal through our online forum, which allows members to dissect these connections and collaborate with our community of historians. Facilitating dynamic conversations is key to building a historic community. NICWS believes that through discussing connections to the past, we can build a better, more informed future.