USA Research Programme

The John Lukacs Institute of Strategy and Politics’ (JLI) Americas Research Program is responsible for research and analysis of domestic and international political processes in the United States of America and for the provision of high-quality and accessible knowledge about them. The Program contributes to the mission of the Ludovika University of Public Service to promote academic excellence, good governance, and the public good. Accordingly, it aims to:

Ensure scholarly discourse on current issues of U.S. domestic and foreign policy and Hungarian-American relations;

Strengthen professional support for Hungarian government officials working in these areas;

Encourage the broadening and deepening of the knowledge of the wider public interested in related issues.

The focus of the Programme is on the United States of America, with a special emphasis on the Hungarian perspective. Its multidisciplinary research analyses and interprets current issues in international relations and security, highlighting the political and security theories relevant in the geopolitical context. The objectives of the Programme are pursued through the following projects:

(1) Academic publications and networking: macro-level analyses of major strategic and political dilemmas in US domestic and foreign policy. Special emphasis is given to works that are prominent in the international academic discourse, but which are still missing in Hungarian academia. These topics will be discussed by well-focused expert panels, which will strengthen the academic network of the JLI and the Ludovika University of Public Service through, among other things, researcher and faculty mobility.

(2) Policy forums and studies: geopolitical contextualisation and interpretation of key developments in US foreign and security policy and transatlantic relations. Linking research and policy, and supporting the development of Strategic Foresight capability, is done in parallel with the inclusion of Hungarian perspectives, with opportunities for dialogue between US and Hungarian stakeholders. Theoretical and practical issues are also reviewed through faculty and expert support for university courses (e.g. the Hungarian Diplomatic Academy Program).

(3) Dissemination and public discourse: assessing current events in American public life and supporting the information of Hungarian society. The experts' media appearances and discussions with a wider audience help to understand and navigate the narratives of US domestic political and social debates and foreign and security policy challenges in a time of political-ideological divisions and renewed great power competition.

The USA Research Program's projects are designed in accordance with the requirements of academic research and the priorities of the Ludovika University of Public Service and the John Lukacs Institute of Strategy and Politics, and its operational languages are English and Hungarian.