Abstract

Dr. George Gavrilis discusses what a new oral history project at the Harriman Institute (Columbia University) is teaching us about the rise, fall, and rebirth of area studies and what this means for academia’s ties to the policymaking community. http://oralhistory.harriman.columbia.edu/

George Gavrilis is an oral historian and international affairs specialist. In the field of oral history, George worked on histories of the Atlantic Philanthropies, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Oral History Project on Russian and Eurasian Studies at Columbia University.

Outside oral history, he has worked in international security and development. He recently served as a consultant to the United Nations Department of Political Affairs and Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force. He led the Hollings Center for International Dialogue (Washington, DC & Istanbul) where he convened dialogues on higher education, development, and foreign policy on the Middle East, Central Asia, and Afghanistan. After receiving his PhD from Columbia University in Political Science, he taught in the Department of Government at the University of Texas-Austin.

He is the author of The Dynamics of Interstate Boundaries (CUP), a book that explains why some developing states benefit from secure and open borders while others struggle to contain smuggling, banditry, and insurgency at their frontiers.