The Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) was established in 1991 with the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
For over three decades, the project has been a leading force in opening the historical record of the Cold War, supporting the full and prompt release of materials by governments on all sides of the conflict, and publishing an unprecedented collection of documents that have transformed how scholars understand the era.
CWIHP, along with the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project (NPIHP), is now home at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, where it joins the newly established Global Policy Institute (GPI) a hub for rigorous, historically grounded research on the most consequential challenges in international affairs. This move reflects a shared conviction that deep historical knowledge and policy relevance are not in tension, but mutually reinforcing.
At UMD, CWIHP will continue and expand its core mission of accelerating the integration of new sources and perspectives from the former Communist bloc and the non-Western world into the broader historiography of the Cold War, and building connections among scholars across barriers of language, geography, and regional specialization.
The Project's Digital Archive, which since 2013 has made thousands of declassified documents freely accessible to researchers and the public worldwide, has also moved to the University of Maryland, ensuring that this essential resource remains open, growing and connected to cutting-edge scholarship.