PORTSMOUTH SIGNED A SISTER CITY AGREEMENT with Nichinan, Japan in 1986 after the mayor of Nichinan contacted Portsmouth’s mayor in 1985 on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty here. The Sister City agreement continues to this day. Sister Cities International was created at President Eisenhower’s 1956 White House summit on citizen diplomacy, where he envisioned a network that would champion peace and prosperity by fostering bonds between Americans and citizens from different communities around the world. By forming these relationships, President Eisenhower believed that people from different cultures could understand, appreciate, and celebrate their differences while building partnerships that would lessen the chance of conflicts. Since its inception, the Sister Cities International network has played a key role in renewing and strengthening important global relationships. Portsmouth, New Hampshire, “The City of the Open Door,” maintains Sister City relationships in Japan, Hungary, Russia, Ghana, Estonia, as well as a Friendship City relationship with Portsmouth, England.