The Woodrow Wilson Center is pleased to announce an important new project, the ECNU-Wilson Center Cold War Studies Initiative which is a natural outgrowth of the longstanding, close relationship between the Wilson Center's flagship Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) and East China Normal University's (ECNU) Cold War International Studies Center. The goal of this new initiative is to further scholarly research and exchanges on the Cold War in general and on the Cold War-era history of the US-China relationship in particular, with a view towards deepening mutual understanding and cooperation between the People's Republic of China and the United States. This initiative will produce a series of path-breaking international conferences, workshops and seminars, as well as a series of online and hardcopy publications as a result of the planned scholarly exchanges and meetings.

The inauguration of this new initiative will take place on 15 August 2011 from 3:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. in the Wilson Center's 6th Floor Moynihan Boardroom. At this landmark event the MOU will be signed and the Wilson Center will host a reception in honor of this new initiative.

Following the ceremony, director of the Center for Cold War International History Studies at East China Normal University Shen Zhihua will discuss his latest book entitled After Leaning to One Side: China and Its Allies in the Cold War which traces the rise and fall of the Sino-Soviet alliance between 1949 and 1973, emphasizing tension over the Korean and Vietnam wars. Visit www.CWIHP.org for more information on the book discussion and to RSVP.