Research Guides: U.S. Politics and Policy: Foreign Policy

Recommended Resources

Library Search
Books on an area of policy can be a good place to start to get historical context. Limit your search to the Library Catalog.

PAIS This link opens in a new window
Find scholarly and other authoritative articles and primary sources on historical context of a policy and on how a policy works
Political Science Complete This link opens in a new window
Find scholarly and other authoritative articles, including these important publications: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, International Affairs, The Diplomat, National Interest
America : History & Life (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Use this for articles on topics farther back in history

Foreign Affairs (1922-present)
News and analysis on global issues and policy, from the Council on Foreign Relations.
Foreign Policy (1990-present)
American news publication focused on global affairs, current events, and domestic and international policy

Background Information

Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy
Publication Date: 2001
Includes background information and context on foreign policy concepts and doctrines, policymaking, commerce and science, human rights and arms control.

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
Reports for Congress with background, including country reports on Background and U.S. Policy for more recent events.
U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets
Annual reports covering 2016 - present on the state of U.S. relations with each country that the United States has relations. Each report contains info on bilateral relations with the U.S., travel, and business.
Congress and the Nation
Find in-depth summaries of congressional trends, actions, political and policy controversies. Each volume includes a section on foreign policy. This covers 1945-2016.

Primary Sources

Foreign Relations of the United States

Official documentary record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. Find materials from the president, State Department, and National Security Council as well as communications with foreign leaders.

Foreign Relations of the United States
Covers Lincoln to Clinton. Reagan era is the most current complete set of documents.
National Archives: Foreign Affairs
Links to the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), pre-1861 materials, and the archived State Department websites for Clinton, Bush, and Obama.

Government Documents, Public and Declassified

Congressional Publications This link opens in a new window
Find reports and hearing from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
U.S. Declassified Documents Online This link opens in a new window
Declassified executive brand documents, including Intelligence studies, policy papers, diplomatic correspondence, cabinet meeting minutes, briefing materials, and domestic surveillance and military reports. 1900s-2000s.

National Security Archive
U.S. declassified documents, pictures, and recordings.
National Security Archive: Electronic Briefing Books
Declassified documents and narrative context on U.S. national security, foreign policy, diplomatic and military history, intelligence policy, and more.
Wilson Center Digital Archive
Documents from governments all across the globe, on the history of international relations and diplomacy, focusing on the interrelated histories of the Cold War, Korea, and Nuclear Proliferation.

State Department Publications

The Bulletin/Dispatch was the official monthly record of U.S. foreign policy, established to provide Congress and the public information about U.S. foreign policy and the work of the Department of State and the Foreign Service. It contains selected press releases on foreign policy, statements and addresses made by the President and by officers of the State Department, and special articles on international affairs and the functions of the Department.

U.S. State Department
For current issues in international relations, look for reports on special topics and on countries.
Department of State Bulletin
Covers 1939-1989
U.S. Department of State Dispatch
Covers 1990-1999
Foreign Policy Bulletin
Covers 1990-2012

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS)

Find news stories from other countries on topics relevant to U.S. interests. Part of the CIA, FBIS collected openly available foreign new broadcasts and translated them into English.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), Daily Reports 1941-1996 This link opens in a new window
Translated international news coverage of U.S. policy

Personal Recollections

Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
Transcripts of interviews of American diplomats offer personal and professional assessments of American and foreign leaders, successful and unsuccessful policies, and foreign conflicts. Search by country of interest. Late 1940s to present.
Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training: Oral Collection
Interviews with former participants in the U.S. foreign affairs process from 1986 on

Treaties and Legal Materials

U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library
Find U.S. treaties and Native American treaties. Filter by treaties in force or not, country, date, and more.
Avalon Project: documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
Digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government. Includes links to supporting documents expressly referred to in the body of the text.

Find Policy Papers

Policy briefs or policy papers summarize a policy issue and argue for a particular solution. Many policy briefs from think tanks, NGOs, and research institutes can be found online. Include the keywords "policy brief" or "policy paper" or "white paper" in your search.

Policy Commons
Use this for contemporary policy topics. Find reports, policy briefs, articles, data and more from IGOs, NGOs, think tanks, and research organizations. Create a free account to use.
Find Policy
Find results from 17 leading think tanks working on foreign policy, in the US and Europe.
Issue Lab
Access to thousands of case studies, evaluations, white papers, and issue briefs addressing some of the world's most pressing social problems.
Public Policy Topics Web Archive
A selection of archived web sites from 2009 to present containing different viewpoints on a variety of American policy topics.

U.S. Politics and Policy: Foreign Policy