Charles W. Ingrao (born 1948) is an American historian and public intellectual focused on early modern Central Europe and the contemporary Balkans.
"[4] This project seeks to use the work of scholars to undermine nationalist interpretations of the recent past that have made peace in the Balkans difficult.
He is an authority of the early modern period in Germany and Central Europe, publishing numerous books and scholarly articles on various political, economic, and cultural topics.
[9][10] Although Ingrao initially published on the early modern history of the Habsburg monarchy and the Holy Roman Empire, he refocused his scholarship to ethnic coexistence and conflict during the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s.
By the late 1990s, he was a regular interview subject for print, radio and television news stories in Europe and North America, as well as a recurring guest on PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
[13][14][15] His focus on the interplay of history and contemporary policymaking led to a series of nationally and internationally syndicated columns and guest lectures across North America, Europe and China before academic, governmental and military audiences, including the US State Department, several US Embassies abroad, the US Capitol, the British House of Commons, S.H.A.P.E.
With the appearance of Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies in 2009, the project presented the first common narrative of the conflict intended to serve as the basis for mutual understanding and political moderation.
The group's efforts have garnered considerable media attention both in the region and abroad, including strident criticism from the nationalist circles in Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia, as well as from former Ambassador Richard Holbrooke after exposing the Clinton Administration's role in shielding Serbian wartime leader Radovan Karadžić from arrest.