May 24 – May 26, 2008: CAS held the meeting “2008 Sino-U.S. Young Scholars Security Dialogue”. Among the 16 attendees, 8 were from the U.S. academic institutes including University of Oklahoma, Yale University, University of Indiana and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Doctor Peter Gries was the U.S. coordinator. The 8 Chinese attendees were from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Remin University of China, Beijing University and Fudan University. Professor Wu Xinbo was the Chinese coordinator.

The theme of this Sino-U.S. security dialogue was "Middle East and Sino-U.S. Relations". The meeting was divided into five topics. The first was “Iraq and Sino-U.S. Relations”. Scholars present at the meeting mainly discussed to what extent the Six-Party Talks aimed to address the nuclear issue in Iran could prevent the Iranian nuclear proliferation, and cooperation as well as divergences between China and the U.S. with regard to this problem. The third topic focused on "Arab-Israel Conflict and Sino-U.S. Relations". Scholars talked over how to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and a Palestinian State, with special emphasis on the role and interests of China and the U.S. in this issue. The fourth topic was “Middle East Petroleum, Energy Security and Sino-U.S. Relations.” This topic raised enthusiastic discussions concerning two major issues: the first was that how can the U.S. and China, as the two largest energy consumers in the world, cooperate with each other in energy problem? The second was that how could the U.S. and China establish a mechanism of mutual trust, reassuring that one’s own energy policy wouldn’t sabotage the interests of the other. The last topic was about "Hotspot Issues and Sino-U.S. Relations". Scholars reviewed the Tibet incident, Olympic Torch Relay and Sichuan Earthquake, probing into the possible impacts these events might have on China’s domestic politics and foreign affairs. Both sides also elaborated on the U.S. perspective and policies regarding these events.

This meeting proceeded with heated discussion and thorough communication in a friendly atmosphere. Through this meeting, scholars from both countries enjoy sufficient academic communication and develop a better academic understanding of these issues, and sets up a favorable dialogue channel, promoting further cooperation between scholars from both countries.