Hudson Institute Celebrated 60 Years of “Thinking About the Unthinkable”

“From the Cold War to the current threat from communist China, Hudson’s experts have deployed their incisive and fearless analysis to tackle America’s most daunting policy challenges.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Hudson Institute celebrated its 60th anniversary this week, marking more than half a century of policy research dedicated to keeping America and its allies secure, free, and prosperous.

Founded in 1961 by Herman Kahn, Max Singer, and Oscar M. Ruebhausen, Hudson Institute was established to foster a better understanding of deterrence in the atomic age and create the conditions for the free world to triumph over communism. Kahn’s groundbreaking book “Thinking About the Unthinkable” urged policymakers to plan for nuclear war to prevent it from occurring, an approach that has informed Hudson’s decades-long tradition of unconventional thinking.

“From the Cold War to the current threat from communist China, Hudson’s experts have deployed their incisive and fearless analysis to tackle America’s most daunting policy challenges,” President and CEO John P. Walters said. “When problems emerge that require fresh thinking, policymakers from both sides of the aisle at home and from capitals around the world turn to Hudson to inform their decision making.”

At the outset, Hudson focused much of its policy output on military research projects; however, over time it broadened its research focus to include foreign and domestic policy, and social and economic issues, applying Kahn’s innovative and rigorous intellectual approach to a range of policy challenges.

“Hudson has led the way on so many issues over the years because we’ve never been afraid to ask the difficult questions,” Board Member and Chairman Emeritus Walter P. Stern said.

“We at Hudson are so grateful to all who have supported our work over the past six decades, including our board of trustees for their invaluable leadership, and all of the supporters who make this work possible,” Chair of Hudson’s Board of Trustees Sarah May Stern said.

Hudson Institute celebrated its 60th anniversary with a reception in New York City on Wednesday evening, with a toast to Hudson Chairman Emeritus Walter P. Stern and a discussion featuring Hudson Distinguished Fellows Walter Russell Mead and Kenneth R. Weinstein and Senior Fellows Nadia Schadlow and Michael Doran, moderated by Hudson President and CEO John P. Walters.

Visit Hudson.org for more information about our work and follow @HudsonInstitute on Twitter.

What They Say About Hudson

“There are a small handful of institutions that helped us win the Cold War and Hudson Institute is one of them.”—Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2013)

“Thanks to Hudson’s great contributions for many decades, freedom, democracy, human rights, and rule of law are being promoted in the world. … I look forward to Hudson’s essential role in the decades ahead in advancing the vision of the free and open Indo-Pacific.”—Shinzō Abe, former prime minister of Japan

“I hope that you never take for granted how much you have changed the world for the better. You have changed my life for the better. Happy birthday Hudson.”—Mitch Daniels, former governor of Indiana and former president and CEO, Hudson Institute

“Herman Kahn had the vision—he was the futurist; he was the idea man who started Hudson. But Wally Stern, he is the one that kept Hudson together. Sixty years of Hudson Institute, and the country needs at least 60 more.”—Dan Quayle, former vice president of the United States

“Hudson has been a very positive force in policy making. It made a major impact on policy decisions in several administrations, and I think it grows in its influence. … Congratulations on 60 years, I hope we have many more.”—Walter P. Stern, board member and chairman emeritus, Hudson Institute 

“These fundamental precepts that Herman inculcated in so many of us … independence and clarity of thinking, scenario writing, trying to put yourself in the position of other people, other outcomes. I think that really shaped my thinking and my perspective.”—Marie-Josée Kravis, former vice chair, Hudson Institute board of trustees  

“I don’t think Herman Kahn or Max Singer could have imagined what this institute has done, what it has achieved—whether it be in the days at Croton-on-Hudson, in Indianapolis, or here in Washington, or the reverberations of our work around the globe.”—Kenneth R. Weinstein, Walter P. Stern distinguished fellow and former president and CEO, Hudson Institute

“Critical thinking, challenging, questioning, innovation, ideation, are core principles at Hudson when dealing with the great policies of our day.”—Thomas D. Bell, former president and CEO, Hudson Institute

“Hudson has remained true to its founding ideals of taking seriously our most difficult, even terrifying problems.”—Leslie Lenkowsky, former president and CEO, Hudson Institute

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