The Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) was established at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., in 1991 with the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. By publishing an unprecedented collection of documents, initially through the CWIHP Bulletin and, since 2013, through the Wilson Center's Digital Archive, the Project seeks to accelerate the process of integrating new sources, materials and perspectives from the former "Communist bloc" and the non-Western world more generally with the historiography of the Cold War. It also seeks to transcend barriers of language, geography, and regional specialization to create new links among scholars interested in Cold War history.

Since its founding in 1991, CWIHP has received funding from the the MacArthur Foundation, the Henry L. Luce Foundation, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Blavatnik Family Foundation, the Chiu Family Foundation, the Korea Foundation, and hundreds of individual donors. Donations to the project are very welcome and, like all contributions to the Wilson Center, are tax-deductible.