Guides: International Relations: Foreign Policy & Diplomacy

Foreign Policy & Diplomacy

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) │ FRUS: Other Sources │ Bibliographies │ Current Information │ Foreign Office Files │ Other Foreign Policy Resources │ Reference Sources │ Top Foreign Policy Journals

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)

The best place to find primary documents pertaining to U.S. foreign policy is the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series which presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. The series, which is produced by the Department of State's Office of the Historian, began in 1861 and now comprises more than 450 individual volumes. The volumes published over the last two decades increasingly contain declassified records from all the foreign affairs agencies.

The in-depth Penn Library research guide "Sources Relating to "Foreign Relations of the United States" (FRUS)" provides links to documents related to FRUS and to previously classified material formerly unavailable.

FRUS: Other Sources

Foreign Relations of the United States: 1861-1960
A project of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago Libraries, which provides a digital facsimile of Foreign Relations of the United States. Provides volumes from 1861-1960 with missing volumes being added as they become accessible and processed.
Hein Online: Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)
HeinOnline provides an image-based, fully searchable version of Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) with exact replicas of the print volumes. Also included in the database are more than 1,300 other works related to U.S. foreign policy in addition to the entirety of Title 22 (Foreign Relations) of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Bibliographies: Foreign Policy & Diplomacy

The SHAFR Guide Online: An Annotated Bibliography of U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1600
The SHAFR Guide is a near-comprehensive, 2.1 million-word online annotated bibliography of historical work covering the entire span of U.S. foreign relations.
American Foreign Relations Since 1600 : A Guide to the Literature
An annotated bibliographical guide to the study of the history of U.S. foreign relations.

Current Information on U.S. Foreign Policy

U.S. State Department
Access point for information of the U.S. Foreign Service, Civil Service, and U.S. Agency for International Development. For historical State Department documents go to the State Department State Archive Websites.
U.S. Congress, House Committee on Foreign Affairs
The House Foreign Affairs Committee is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs of the United States.
U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. The Committee was established in 1816 as one of the original ten standing committees of the Senate. Throughout its history, the committee has been instrumental in developing and influencing United States foreign policy, at different times supporting and opposing the policies of presidents and secretaries of state.

Foreign and Colonial Offices

The records of the British Foreign Office provide information on British relations with foreign states from 1782 to the present day, providing insights into the history of domestic issues in countries around the world. The following list provides access to various online collections available through the Penn Libraries' database resources. For an in-depth guide on available British Foreign Office documents, please go to British Foreign Relations and Colonial Documents: Basic Series and Colonial Documents by Penn History Librarian, Nick Okrant.

Archives Direct : Sources From The National Archives, UK.
Archives Direct is a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew, the official archive of the United Kingdom. Containing diplomatic correspondence, letters, reports, surveys, material from newspapers, statistical analyses, published pamphlets, ephemera, military papers, profiles of prominent individuals, maps and many other types of document, it consists of the history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from the British state's point of view.
Confidential Print. Africa, 1834-1966.
"The Confidential Print series, issued by the Foreign and Colonial Offices since around 1820, is...one of the most important series produced by the British Government....Spanning the full era of the modern European colonisation of Africa, from the occupation of Algeria by France, through increasing British presence on the west African coast and around the Cape of Good Hope in the south, the Berlin Conference which set off the 'Scramble for Africa', the high-water mark of economic exploitation of Africans in the Congo Free State, rivalries amongst European powers and the era of withdrawal that followed the Second World War, Confidential Print: Africa is a fundamental resource for academics, students and researchers studying modern Africa and its recent history. The resource also features 300 color maps"
Foreign Office Files for China, 1919-1980
This digital collection makes available all British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan between 1919 and 1980. Allows access to eye-witness accounts, weekly and monthly summaries, annual reviews, reports and analyses, economic assessments, synopses on Chinese personalities, and more.
Foreign Office Files For India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, 1947-1980
This collection focuses on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Includes content on Bangladesh, Ceylon/Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Kashmir, and the Maldives. Materials available are diplomatic dispatches, inward and outward telegrams, newspaper cuttings and transcripts, maps, photographs, political and economic reports, accounts of visits and tours, minutes of meetings, conference proceedings, letters, leaflets, and ephemera.
Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952
Provides full-text searchable access to formerly restricted top level discussions and correspondence from the British Embassy and consulate in Japan. Includes memoranda, reports, minute sheets and correspondence, along with detailed assessments of key events, speeches and topics of special interest. Published in three parts, this collection makes available extensive coverage of British Foreign Office files dealing with Japan between 1919 and 1952.
Foreign Office files for the Middle East, 1971-1981
This resource comprises British Foreign and Commonwealth Office files and selected files from the Prime Minister's Office and Defence Intelligence. The resource is in three sections: The 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Oil Crisis (1971-1974); The Lebanese Civil War and the Camp David Accords (1975-1978); The Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War (1979-1981). This resource addresses the policies, economies, political relationships, and significant events of every major Middle East power. Conflicts such as the Arab-Israeli War, the Lebanese Civil War, and the Iranian Revolution are examined, as are the military interventions and peace negotiations carried out by regional and foreign powers like the United States and Russia. Sourced from the UK National Archives, the documents were created by British diplomats and civil servants, and include analyses, annual reviews and diplomatic correspondence.

Other Foreign Policy & Diplomatic Resources

Council of Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. Founded in 1921, CFR takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.
International Relations and Military Conflicts (ProQuest History Vault)
The International Relations and Military Conflicts category spans from 1911-1975, offering a detailed view of U.S. foreign relations during the period from the years immediately before the outbreak of World War I through to the end of the Vietnam War.
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Collections Include
- U.S. Military Intelligence Reports, 1911-1944
- U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, 1914-1945 Search this Module Browse Collections
- World War I: British Foreign Office Political Correspondence (1914-1920)
- World War I: Records of the American Expeditionary Forces, and Diplomacy in the World War I Era (1915-1927)
- CIA Cold War Research Reports and Records on Communism in China and Eastern Europe (1917-1976)
- Creation of Israel: British Foreign Office Correspondence on Palestine and Transjordan, 1940-1948
- World War II: U.S. Documents on Planning, Operations, Intelligence, Axis War Crimes, and Refugees
- Office of Strategic Services (OSS)-State Department Intelligence and Research Reports, 1941-1961
- Nazi Looted Art and Assets: Records on the Post-World War II Restitution Process (1942-1998)
- Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, Africa and Middle East, 1960-1969
- Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, Asia, 1960-1969
- Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, Europe and Latin America, 1960-1969
- Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975
Foreign Policy Research Institute ·
The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) is a nonpartisan Philadelphia-based think tank dedicated to strengthening U.S. national security and improving American foreign policy
Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training at the Library of Congress makes available interview transcripts from the oral history archives of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST). These transcripts present a window into the lives of U.S. diplomats and the major diplomatic crisis and issues that the United States faced during the second half of the 20th century and the early part of the 21st.