Research Guides: International Relations: U.S. Primary Sources

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.

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.

International Relations: U.S. Primary Sources