PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The U.S. Naval War College is partnering with two Ivy League universities to work on global security issues and figure out how to improve the response to humanitarian crises.

The Newport-based college signed agreements with Brown University and Harvard University to promote collaborative research and teaching.

Professors from the war college and Brown’s Watson Institute for International Studies are meeting to discuss nuclear weapons issues and the turmoil in Ukraine.

War college Professor Terence Roehrig said they plan to work on research together to inform policymakers and hold joint lectures. Many of the college’s faculty served in the military, Roehrig said, so it’s helpful to have input from experts at Brown who have different perspectives on security issues.

“The degree to which we can have robust dialogues from multiple perspectives only helps to produce better research and writing about policy recommendations that we hope has a very important impact on policy debates,” Roehrig said.

With Harvard’s School of Public Health, the war college is trying to find ways that the U.S. military can better coordinate with other organizations that respond during a humanitarian disaster.

Dr. Michael Lappi, who spearheaded the effort at Harvard, says improving the response can help save lives.

The war college is a one-year, resident program that graduates about 600 students a year.