Sept. 23, 2020

The University of South Carolina’s Folks Center for International Business is presenting an online forum Thursday, Oct. 1, with David J. Firestein, president and CEO of the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations.   

Firestein will assess the current challenges and future prospects in U.S.-China relations, with an emphasis on trade frictions, and both public and corporate perspectives in a changing landscape. The forum is presented in partnership with the USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Prior to joining the Bush China Foundation, Firestein was the founding executive director of The University of Texas at Austin’s China Public Policy Center and a clinical professor at UT’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Firestein led innovative interdisciplinary research and engagement on China-related domestic and foreign policy. Before moving to UT, he served as senior vice president and Perot Fellow at the EastWest Institute, where he led the Institute’s track 2 diplomacy work in the areas of U.S.-China relations, East Asian security and U.S.-Russia relations. Firestein was a decorated career U.S. diplomat from 1992–2010, specializing primarily in U.S.-China relations.

The event is sponsored by The Rachel and Jim Hodges Fund, generously given by the former South Carolina governor and his wife. The Firestein forum will be held virtually on Zoom from 4-5:30 p.m. Oct. 1 and is free and open to the public.

ABOUT THE FOLKS CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

The Folks Center for International Business is the hub for global business education, research and leadership at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. Established in 2015, the Folks Center builds upon and accelerates the school’s investment and leadership in international business for more than 40 years. The center engages companies, government agencies, international organizations and academic institutions on key issues impacting international strategy, risk, innovation and leadership development.  The Moore School’s international business program has been nationally ranked as No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report for more than 20 years. Learn more at sc.edu/moore/folkscenter. 

ABOUT THE BUSH CHINA FOUNDATION

The George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations seeks to advance U.S.-China relations in ways that reflect the ethos, spirit and values of President George H. W. Bush. Through an active, wide-ranging and highly innovative program of activities, the Bush China Foundation promotes the late president’s life-long view that the U.S.-China relationship is the most consequential bilateral relationship in the world and that a constructive relationship between the two countries serves a vital interest of the United States, as well as that of China and the entire global community. The Bush China Foundation remains committed to its positioning in the “sensible center” of U.S.-China discourse and faithful to the vision of its namesake. Learn more at bushchinafoundation.org.