Diplomatic History Research Seminar
SELECT RESOURCES
KEY PRIMARY SOURCES:
Foreign
Relations of the
The FRUS series is
the essential starting point for research on
List of all volumes in print:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/c4035.htm
[FAU owns many, but not all, printed volumes. They are located in Government Documents, call number S1.1]
Select older volumes have been
digitized by
http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/
[These are scanned images of the print volumes listed above]
Recently published volumes are online [mostly covering the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon presidencies]:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/c1716.htm
The National Security Archive:
The National Security Archive works to declassify and make
available to the public documents relating to
Electronic
Briefing Books provide online access to critical declassified records on
issues including
Microfiche Collections are collections of documents that you can order through Interlibrary Loan. These are large collections of documents on 20 different topics.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/sets.html
The Digital National Security Archive contains the most comprehensive set of declassified government documents available. The resource now includes 31 collections consisting of over 80,000 meticulously indexed documents, with more than 500,000 total pages. To access the DNSA you must go to a library that subscribes to it. (You can access the archive at FIU’s library.) For a list of collections included in the DNSA database, see: http://nsarchive.chadwyck.com/marketing/coll_dnsa.jsp.
Books by National Archive staff and fellows, many of which contain reprinted documents: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/staff/staffpub.html
Cold War
International History Project:
http://wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.home
The CWIHP collects documents from the “other side”
during the Cold War, documenting the policies and actions of
Virtual Archive:
http://wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=va2.browse&sort=Collection
Documents and Working Papers:
http://wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.documents&group_id=187963
Publications:
http://wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.publications
Parallel History
Project:
Similar to the CWIHP, this documents the foreign policies and activities of the former “Eastern Bloc.” For collections, see:
http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/collections/index.cfm. Also see list of publications: http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/publications/index.cfm.
Declassified
Documents Reference System.
[Very comprehensive, searchable database of declassified documents on a wide variety of topics. Collections of documents taken from US presidential libraries. Almost any topic would benefit from a DDRS search. This online database is available at the FIU library].
Reprints major speeches, white papers, and public positions by each administration. States the “official” position.
Readers Guide to
Periodical Literature:
[Database at FAU that facilitates research in periodicals by indexing articles across a range of popular publications.]
Lexis-Nexis
Congressional:
Database at FAU that provides online access to hearings, reports, etc. by US Congress.
FAU Special
Collections and Archives:
http://www.library.fau.edu/depts/spc/collist.htm
[You may wish to specifically inquire about the John O’Sullivan collection, relating to US foreign policy.]
Historical
Historical New York
Times
Historical Wall
Street Journal
[these plus other historic newspapers are available via FAU library]
Current Digest of the
Soviet Press
[compilations of translated
newspaper articles from former
Presidential
Libraries.
Each president since Herbert Hoover has a presidential library that houses documents pertaining to his administration. These libraries are archives, and are located across the country. Many of archives now post online documents relating to each president. While not a comprehensive source for any topic, you should check out the webpage of pertinent libraries to discover documents relating to your research. For links to each presidential library, see (on the left): http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/visit/
WEBSITES:
The Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact, http://www.isn.ethz.ch/php/.
See also the searchable Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Rooms of government agencies, such as FBI, CIA, State Department, Defense Department, Department of Justice, and Department of Energy. These pages post online documents that have been declassified under the Freedom of Information Act. Useful to supplement your research, but are rarely comprehensive, so they should probably not comprise the sole source of your research.
TEXTBOOKS/SURVEYS:
Jerald A. Combs, The History of American Foreign Policy, 2nd ed. (McGraw Hill, 1997). [each chapter includes useful historiographical discussion]
H.W. Brands, The United States and the World: A History of American Foreign Policy, 2 vols. (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994).
Bradford Perkins, The
Walter LaFeber, The
Akira Iriye, The
Warren I. Cohen, The
Thomas G. Paterson, J. Garry Clifford, and Kenneth J. Hagan, American Foreign Relations: A History, 5th ed., 2 vols. (Houghton Mifflin, 2000).
Walter LaFeber, The American Age:
HISTORIOGRAPHY:
Michael J. Hogan, ed.
Michael J. Hogan, ed. Paths
to Power: The Historiography of American Foreign Relations to 1941 (
Michael J. Hogan and Thomas G. Paterson, Explaining the History of American Foreign
Relations. (
Robert L. Beisner, ed. American
Foreign Relations since 1600: A Guide to the Literature, 2 vols. (
JOURNALS:
American Diplomacy
Armed Forces and
Society
Cold War History
*Diplomatic History [the
journal of record for the field and an essential resource]
Diplomacy and
Statecraft
Foreign Affairs
Intelligence and
National Security
International History
Review
Journal of American
History
Journal of Cold War
Studies
Journal of Military
History
Political Science
Quarterly
Presidential Studies
Quarterly
Rhetoric and Public
Affairs
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