The History and Future of U.S.-China Relations, from the Cold War to the “New Cold War”

Description:

Please join us on Monday, October 24th at 5:00pm in the GM room at Horchow Hall for a book talk with John Delury, Professor of Chinese Studies at Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS).

With the Twentieth Party Congress meeting this month, international attention is drawn to the future of Xi Jinping’s presidency and Xi’s vision for China’s role in the world. John Delury’s timely new book, Agents of Subversion, explores the complicated history behind the current issues animating U.S.-China relations. Agents of Subversion examines the biography of Yale graduate and CIA officer, John T. Downey, who was sent to China in 1952 with a broader purpose: depose Mao Zedong from power and end communist rule of China. But when the mission failed and Downey was captured by the Chinese government, a twenty-year campaign ensued to secure Downey’s release. What followed was a story of deception, diplomacy, and competition that shaped the relationship between the United States and China to the present day. Delury’s book shows that if the United States and China are to avoid a “New Cold War,” the two great powers must reckon with the history that led us to this tense moment.

John Delury will be joined in conversation by Elihu Professor of History and Global Affairs, Arne Westad. Professors Delury and Westad will discuss Delury’s book and the Cold War history between the United States and China. They will also offer their thoughts on the future of great-power competition, China’s grand strategy, and the prospects for diplomacy between the two countries. The conversation will be moderated by Michael Brenes, Interim Director of the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy and Lecturer in History.

Attendance is limited to the Yale community, please RSVP in advance.