Research Guides

United States Documents

Declassified Documents Reference System (DDRS) ChRiv
Digital facsimiles of declassified documents of the post-World War II world. These full-text, fully searchable documents range from correspondence and memoranda to minutes of cabinet meetings, technical studies, national security policy statements and intelligence reports.

U.S. Department of State
This site has links to many different State Department sites providing information on countries and regions of the world.


Subsites include:

Background Notes
Provide brief overviews of other countries and of international organizations.

Country and Industry Market Research
Prepared annually by U.S. embassies with the assistance of several U.S. government agencies, these reports present a comprehensive look at countries' commercial environments, using economic, political and market analysis.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
These reports are submitted annually by the U.S. Department of State to the U.S. Congress. They cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room
U.S. Department of State records which have been declassified and released under the Freedom of Information Act are available at this site.

Dispatch (Previously Department of State Bulletin)
"The United States Department of State Dispatch has provided key speeches and testimony by senior State Department officials as well as current U.S. treaty actions since 1990. However, since all speeches, briefings, and testimony from State Department officials and the current U.S. treaty actions are available on the web site at www.state.gov upon release, hard copy distribution of this publication will end with the December 1999 issue and Index."  Archive still available, as are print issues:
Mugar JX232 .U55

Foreign relations of the United States (US Department of State). 1861+
A historical record of american foreign policy with more than 350 individual volumes. Each volume documents the major foreign policy decisions and diplomatic activity of the U.S. Government and contains declassified records from the White House, the Department of State, and other foreign affairs agencies.
Mugar JX 233 E52

Note: Some 20th century FRUS volumes are available at:
http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/frus.html

The World Factbook
Produced by CIA's Directorate of Intelligence. The Factbook is a comprehensive resource of facts and statistics on more than 250 countries and other entities.

Factbook on Intelligence
An overview of the Agency's organization, history, and mission.

Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments
Alphabetical list by country; frequently updated.

DefenseLINK
This is the official, public access web site for the U.S. Department of Defense and is the starting point for finding military information on the Internet.

International Information Programs
formerly United States Information Agency
Now under the auspices of the U.S.Department of State. Excellent current events site covering topics such as human rights, globalism, arms control and environmental issues.

Publishes:

Foreign Media Reaction
formerly Foreign Commentary on U.S.
This site has daily digests of foreign commentary on actions of the United States since 1994.

U.S. Embassies and Other Diplomatic Missions
A directory, with web links.

International Trade Administration
This U.S. Department of Commerce site has trade-related information on countries, regions, and industries.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
LLNL's mission is to apply science and technology in the national interest, with a focus on global security, global ecology, and bioscience. Click Science & Technology to see LLNL's research areas and especially research in the area of National Security.

Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia provides scientific and engineering solutions to meet national needs in nuclear weapons and related defense systems, energy security, and environmental integrity. Other National Laboratories conduct research on technology and national security issues.

U.S. Mission to the European Union
Provides primary source documents on trade and public policy issues of shared interest to both the US and the EU. (Examples - Food Safety; Biotechnology).