Kennan Institute

The Kennan Institute was founded in 1974 to carry out studies of the Soviet Union (Sovietology), and subsequently of post-Soviet Russia and other post-Soviet states. The institute is widely regarded as the foremost institute studying Russia in the United States.

The institute is named after George Kennan, a 19th-century American explorer of Russia and Siberia, who was a much older cousin of the eminent American diplomat George F. Kennan. Ambassador Kennan was best known as the author of the U.S. containment policy toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Together with Wilson Center Director James Billington and historian S. Frederick Starr, he initiated the establishment of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

In 2025, in response to the closure of most programs of the Woodrow Wilson Center by the Trump administration, the Kennan Institute declared itself an independent non-profit, transferring its collections and endowment out of the Wilson Center's control.

In addition to its office in Washington, the Kennan Institute operates an office in Kyiv, Ukraine. Kennan's Kyiv office provides on-the-ground assistance to the Washington staff and a communication link with various Ukrainian organizations. The office also organizes publications, seminars, and conferences on major events of the day featuring Kennan Institute alumni.