Date: May.20^th, 2019

Time: 13:30-15:00

Speaker: Prof. Odd Arne Westad, Harvard University

Venue: Room 250, Mong Man Wai Building, Zijingang Campus

[Speaker Intro]

Odd Arne Westad is the S.T. Lee Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations at Harvard University, where he teaches at the Kennedy School of Government. He is an expert on contemporary international history and on the eastern Asian region. Professor Westad won the Bancroft Prize for The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times. The book, which has been translated into fifteen languages, also won a number of other awards. Westad served as general editor for the three-volume Cambridge History of the Cold War, and is the author of the Penguin History of the World (now in its 6th edition). His most recent book, Restless Empire: China and the World since 1750, won the Asia Society’s book award for 2013.

【Abstract】

Recently, there has been much speculation about whether another Cold War between East and West is coming. But are we really returning to the past? The Cold War, at its core was an ideological contest between capitalism and socialism that had been going on throughout the twentieth century, with each side fervently dedicated to its system of economics and governance. Today’s international affairs are in large part murky and challenging, but they are a far cry from Cold War absolutes. Yet, increasing tensions between the US and China is causing great concern among academics and policy-makers. Nowadays, China believes that its unprecedented economic growth has given it the status of a predominant power, and many Chinese believe China is free to act on its own behalf now. While the situation is more complicated than what people used to think. When ideology is no longer the main determinant and nationalism is on the rise. What will happen to the world structure? What will happen to Sino-US relations? Are rising US tensions with China signs of a return to the Cold War? Professor Arne Westad, a prominent expert of Cold War history from Harvard University will examine the historical origins of US-China relations, and to show how perceived lessons from the past will influences thinking about the present, and the future.