Foreign Relations and Diplomacy

Many more resources in the Library Research Guide for Foreign Relations  for  State Department,  Intelligence,  Presidential and other documents.

The Foreign Relations of the United States series, issued by the State Department, largely comprises declassified material chosen to document US foreign relations. It is included together with other foreign relations documents in:

HeinOnline Foreign Relations of the United States (1861- ) provides full-text of Foreign Relations of the United States (1861- ) as well as other and earlier sources, including:

U.S. intelligence on Asia, 1945-1991 offers declassified documents on U.S. intelligence community. Covers People's Republic of China, North Korea and North Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia.

Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange (In: Nineteenth Century Collections Online).  To browse the Collections within Asia and the West, open menu in search box on upper left.  Click on image under Asia and the West.  You can search within a Collection, or in Advanced search you can limit to Collection.  Largely UK and US diplomatic and consular records with some missionary correspondence and publications.

Includes

  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Amoy, China, 1844-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Antung, Manchuria, China, 1904-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Canton, China, 1790-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Chefoo, China, 1863-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Chinkiang, China, 1864-1902
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Chunking, China, 1896-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Foochow, China, 1849-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Hangchow, China, 1904-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Hankow, China, 1861-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Hong Kong, 1844-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Macao, China, 1849-1869
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Mukden, Manchuria, China, 1904-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Nanking, China, 1902-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Newchwang, Manchuria, China, 1865-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Ningpo, China, 1853-1896
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Shanghai, China, 1847-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Swatow, China, 1860-1881
  • Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Tientsin, China, 1868-1906
  • Despatches from U.S. Ministers to China, 1843-1906
  • Notes from the Chinese Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1868-1906
  • Selected Records of the U.S. Legation in China, 1849-1931

Tracking the dragon : national intelligence estimates on China during the era of Mao, 1948-1976. National Intelligence Council (U.S.), 2004, xliv, 678 p. + CD-ROM
Online Version (book only)
HOLLIS Record 

Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy (1954)

General sources on US government documents, government archives, and foreign relations are available

Declassified Documents

The National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) routinely reviews 25-year old files in many record groups for declassification. Some of this material is microfilmed and some of the microfilm is offered for sale by commercial vendors. Since the 1966 Freedom of Information act (FOIA), declassification of more recent documemts can be requested by individuals. Also, many government agencies have FOIA Electronic Reading Rooms on their websites.

The two most important collective sources for FOIA material are:

Digital National Security Archive (1945- ) contains 22 core collections of declassified documents, previously published on microfiche. Additional material is available in their Electronic Briefing Books and the CIA’s “family jewels” collection

Declassified Documents Reference System Online which contains declassified documents sent from various government agencies to the presidential libraries.

Some material on the Presidential Library websites is not in the Declassified Documents Reference System.

Major Electronic Reading Rooms include:

CIA Electronic Reading Room If you leave the search field blank and hit search, you can use the filters on the right to narrow your search. CREST (CIA Records Search Tool) material as well as FOIA is included.

State Department Electronic Reading Room contains over 50,000 documents. State Department material from 1973-76 is available on the National Archives’ Access to Archival Databases website.