U.S. Foreign Relations, 1914-Present

Background Research

The Library has a large number of subject specific online encyclopedias with exhaustive and well-researched entries written by subject experts. The essays in these encyclopedias and companions are great overviews and they can be very helpful in defining and focusing a topic. All essays include bibliographies that will lead to further sources on a topic.

• Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy
  Includes articles on topics such as Cold War Evolution and Interpretation and Exceptionalism.
• Vital Statistics on American Politics
  Chapter 9, Foreign and Military Policy, includes relevant statistics, such as tables on U.S. Defense Spending back to 1940 and Use of U.S. Armed Forces Abroad back to 1798.
• Congress and the Nation
  Comprehensive coverage of Congressional action from 1945 to 2004, including review and analysis of legislation and policy. Search all content or browse the International Affairs section. See for example the Foreign Policy, 1965-1968 Overview.
• CQResearcher
  Includes CQ Research Reports back to 1923. Search the complete archive or browse individual sections such as International Relations and World Politics or War and Conflict.
  Examples of research reports:
  U.S.-Soviet Rivalry in Manchuria and Korea (3/31/1948)
  Congress and the Conduct of War (8/24/1942)
• Americans at War
  Includes primary sources such as letters, speeches and songs.
• Dictionary of American History
  See articles on the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and Arms Race and Disarmament.
• American Foreign Relations Since 1600: A Guide to the Literature
  Print only: 2 volumes, 2nd edition, 2003. An annotated bibliographic guide published by the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.
  32 chapters organized by time period, among them a chapter on the cold war and one on the Korean War. Each chapter includes sections on published primary documents, the historiography, and biographies and memoirs.

This is a small selection of the subject encyclopedias available in the Library. Ask a librarian for help if you would like to find more encyclopedias.

Selected Primary Sources

• Foreign Relations of the United States, 1861-1976
  (HeinOnline)
  Also included: American Foreign Policy Current Documents, 1981-1991
• Foreign Relations of the United States, 1861-1960
  (University of Wisconsin Digital Collections)
  "The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. The series, which is produced by the State Department's Office of the Historian, began in 1861 and now comprises more than 350 individual volumes."
  Not all volumes are included in this collection. The full text of the collection can be searched.
• Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945-1968
  (State Department web site)
• Foreign Relations of the United States
  Available online, in print or microform via the library catalog.
• The National Security Archive
  (George Washington University)
  "An independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University, the Archive collects and publishes declassified documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The Archive also serves as a repository of government records on a wide range of topics pertaining to the national security, foreign, intelligence, and economic policies of the United States."
• The Cold War International History Project
  (Woodrow Wilson Center)
• Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security (PHP)
  (University of Zurich)
  Declassified NATO records and Cold War related documents from Eastern and Central European archives.
• Historical New York Times
  Complete online archive from 1851 to present.
• The Times Archives, 1785-1985
• American Periodicals Series
  Contains over 1,100 periodicals that first began publishing between 1740 and 1900.
• The Current Digest of the (Post-)Soviet Press
  Selected Russian-language press materials in English translation, 1949-present.
• Foreign Broadcast Information Service, 1974-1996
  Transcripts of foreign news broadcasts translated into English from materials selected by the CIA for distribution to U.S. policymakers and security analysts.
• Readers' Guide Retrospective
  Provides citations to the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America.
• OpinionArchives
  The digital archives of a wide spectrum of opinion magazines including Harpers Magazine, The New Republic, The New Yorker, The Nation, Dissent, Commentary, NACLA, Commonweal, American Spectator, and the National Review.
• Historic Documents, 1972-
  "Documents range from presidential speeches, international agreements, and Supreme Court decisions to U.S. governmental reports, scientific findings, and cultural discussions."
• The Library's Catalog

  Sample subject searches:
  "united states" and "foreign relations" and japan and sources
  "united states" and "foreign relations" and germany and sources
  "cold war" and sources
  "vietnam war" and "personal narratives"
  Sample author searches:
  "committee on foreign relations"
  "United States. Dept. of State. Office of the Historian"
  Sample title searches:
  "Department of State publication"
  "foreign relations of the United States"

  Try WorldCat for more results.

Critical Literature

published in books

• The Library's Catalog
  Keyword and subject searches in the Library's catalog are good starting points when first exploring a topic. Search results can be narrowed with facets such as topic, era, language or region. Facets are located on the right hand side of the results screen.

  Subject search examples:
  "United States" and "foreign relations"
  "cold war"
  "United States" and "foreign relations" and "Soviet Union"

• WorldCat
  Books that are not owned by the Library can be found via WorldCat. WorldCat is an online catalog that includes the collections of most U.S. libraries as well as a large number of libraries abroad. Titles owned by Falvey Memorial Library are tagged, those not held by Falvey can be requested through interlibrary loan with the Borrow from another library link. WorldCat uses the same Library of Congress subject headings as the Library's catalog. The Export feature makes it possible to download selected references into a RefWorks account.
• E-Z Borrow and Interlibrary Loan
  Interlibrary loan is available for books and journals that are not owned by Falvey. EZ-Borrow is usually faster than interlibrary loan, since the books come from a local library network. EZ-Borrow can be used for books that the Library owns, but that are currently checked out by somebody else.

Critical Literature

published in scholarly journals

Use the databases listed below to find peer-reviewed journal articles on your topic. Contact me if you have any questions.

• Historical Abstracts
  Covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present. Indexed journals include Diplomatic History, the Journal of Politics & History, and Cold War History.

  Example of a peer-reviewed journal article:
  Dixon, Paul. "'Rosy Catholics' and 'Dour Prods': President Clinton and the Northern Ireland peace process." International Politics 47, no. 2 (March 2010): 210-228.

• America: History & Life
  Covers the history of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. Indexed journals include Diplomatic History, the Journal of American History, and Defence Studies.
  
  Search screen features:
  
  
  FindIt features:
  

• PAIS International
  PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) covers issues in the public debate and provides historical perspective on many of the 20th century's public and social policies.

Citing Your Sources

• Documenting Sources, Chicago Style
  DianaHacker.com: Research and Documentation Online.
  Sample bibliography.
• Generate references in Chicago style for your cited reference list
  (Historical Abstracts and America: History & Life)
  Use the "Add to Folder" links to create a list of potentially useful articles then switch to Folder View and Select all items. Click on the "Save as File" icon to the right of your results and select Chicago style in the drop down menu under "Citation Format." Click on "Save" and then copy and paste the resulting list of Chicago style citations into your word file.
  
  
• The Chicago Manual of Style
  15th ed. Available online and in print.
  Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1993.
  Information desk Z253.U69 2003
• RefWorks
  Never type a bibliography again! RefWorks will help you easily gather, manage, and store bibliographic citations for all types of information, as well as generate footnotes and bibliographies.

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