Title: Stephen P. Cohen papers

Series Number: 15/18/38

Acquired: 04/25/2022.

Volume: 2.0 cubic feet

Arrangement

Abstract

Creator(s)

Biographical Note

Stephen P. Cohen (1936-2019) was a professor of Political Science and Asian Studies at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Cohen started out as an instructor in 1965, then became assistant professor (1967), associate professor (1970), full professor (1979), and emeritus professor (1998). At the University of Illinois, Cohen was instrumental in the development of South Asian studies, an emeritus professor of the Center of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (CSAMES), and helped found the Program in Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security (ACDIS, 1978), which he directed from 1994 to 1998. In his thirty plus years at the University of Illinois, Dr. Cohen became a prominent expert on US involvement in South Asia, nuclear disarmament, and the relations between India and Pakistan. He retired in 1998 and became Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Stephen Phillip Cohen was born in Chicago in 1936 and studied at the University of Chicago, where he received both a Bachelors of Art (1958) and Masters of Art (1959) in Political Science, before obtaining his PhD (1967) in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He was married to Roberta S. Brosilow Cohen, with whom he had six children. An expert on South Asian studies, and in particular, the relationship between India and Pakistan, Cohen served on the policy planning staff of the U.S. Department of State from 1985-1986, and was a Scholar-in-Residence at the Ford Foundation from 1992-1993. While at the University of Illinois, he was also active in ROTC. In 1998 Cohen joined the Brooking Institute where his work focused on resolving nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan. Cohen published extensively on South Asia, including fifteen books. Cohen died at the age of 83 on October 27, 2019.

Because of his expertise on South Asia and nuclear weaponry, he spoke nationally and internationally, including at The Asia Society conference, foreign policy groups, and the State Department. He also gave testimony before the House and Senate (1981-2008), particularly on South Asian security and the United States.

Subjects (links to similar materials)

Locations for this record series:

Offsite: 24 hours notice required
146 Library, 1408 W. Gregory Drive (Prior Request Preferred)

Click "Submit request (Aeon)" to view locations for each box.

Submit request (Aeon)

Service Location	Boxes	Request
Offsite: 24 hours notice required	1	Request 1
Offsite: 24 hours notice required	1 box and 2 small boxes	Request 1 box and 2 small boxes
Offsite: 24 hours notice required	2	Request 2
Offsite: 24 hours notice required	3	Request 3
146 Library, 1408 W. Gregory Drive (Prior Request Preferred)	4-6	Request 4-6

Description:

Stephen P. Cohen (1936-2019) became an instructor at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 1965 before he became an assistant professor of Political Science and Asian Studies in 1967. In 1970, he became an associate professor; he became a full professor in 1979, and finally an emeritus professor when he retired in 1998. Cohen was instrumental in the development of South Asian studies at the university, was an emeritus professor of the Center of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (CSAMES), and helped found the Program in Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security (ACDIS, 1978), of which he served as director from 1994-1998. In his thirty plus years as a professor at the University of Illinois, Dr. Cohen became a prominent expert on US involvement in South Asia, nuclear disarmament, and the relations between India and Pakistan. He retired at the age of 62 in 1998 and became Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

His papers include his tenure file and interviews of him, class materials, correspondence, writing drafts, research, national and international foreign policy meeting notes, his testimonies to the US House and Senate from 1981-2008, outlines and full versions of speeches and talks, and publications. The collection also contains his notes on research and national and international meetings, notes on a trip to study the Indian army in the region of Ladakh, specifically Leh, which talks of a riot protesting the wool syndicate. It also includes an unfinished book draft titled "Rashomon" (1993-1995) that looks at how policy makers from South Asia and beyond perceived the region, and how policies between South Asian countries were shaped by regional context and history. During initial processing, 30 of Dr. Cohen's publications (1963-1979) were misplaced and have not yet been found.

Accession two contains military interviews with other militaries such as India, Pakistan, Japan, Nepal, and Bangladesh; contracts, correspondence and meetings with the US Department of State, correspondence with the Central Intelligence agency, correspondence and an invitation to dinner with Pakistan president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, a piece of rock with a note that says Berlin Wall, photographs, and papers on nuclear proliferation. This series has been left in its original order.

Organized into 4 series: Series 1, Subject Files, 1964-2015, arranged alphabetically with Professor Cohen's tenure file and interviews listed first to provide context; Series 2, Notebooks, 1969-2016, arranged chronologically; Series 3, Presentations, 1973-2014, arranged chronologically; Series 4, Publications, 1964-2016, arranged chronologically.

View finding aid and PDF box/folder list