Briefing Books

“Briefing Books” are one-stop resources covering a full range of topics in U.S. foreign policy. Containing from 5 to 100+ documents, each briefing book features an introductory essay, individual document descriptions, related photo or video content, plus links for further reading.
Department of State’s Dissent Channel Revealed
| Briefing Book
Washington D.C., March 15, 2018 - A US Foreign Service officer warned that “blatantly illegal” Congressional requests, including the use of a diplomatic pouch to smuggle gemstones and utilizing…
New Findings on Clerical Involvement in the 1953 Coup in Iran
| Briefing Book
Recently declassified British and CIA documents provide new evidence on the Iran 1953 coup including on the role of Iranian clerics
CIA declassifies more of "Zendebad, Shah!" – internal study of 1953 Iran coup
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., February 12, 2018 – A partially-declassified CIA history of the 1953 coup in Iran, released in late 2017, includes an-depth critique of how the agency approached the operation,…
Preoccupations with West Germany’s Nuclear Weapons Potential Shaped Kennedy-Era Diplomacy
| Briefing Book
US Government preoccupation with West German nuclear potential contributed to US nonproliferation policy in 1950s and 1960s
Scavenging for Intelligence: The U.S. Government’s Secret Search for Foreign Objects during the Cold War
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., January 31, 2018 – Like so many treasure hunters, beachcombers, and curio shoppers, U.S.
Rumsfeld Snowflakes Come in from the Cold
| Briefing Book
Washington D.C., January 24, 2018 - On the day before September 11, 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld believed the gravest threat to American national security was Pentagon bureaucracy…
Cuba: Documents Chart History of Secret Communications
| Briefing Book
Washington D.C., December 15, 2017 - With the approach of the 3rd anniversary of “17-D”—the iconic date of December 17, 2014, when President Barack Obama and President Raul Castro made…
NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard
| Briefing Book
Western leaders gave multiple assurances against NATO expansion to Gorbachev in 1990-1991 according to declassified American, Russian, British, Germans documents
Engaging North Korea II: Evidence from the Clinton Administration
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., December 8, 2017 – The Clinton administration made plans for war against North Korea during the 1994 nuclear crisis.  While U.S.
U.S. Presidents and the Nuclear Taboo
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., November 30, 2017 – U.S.
Engaging North Korea: Evidence from the Bush I Administration
| Briefing Book
George H.W. Bush chose diplomacy over military force in dealing with North Korean nuclear crisis in early 1990s, as U.S. balanced relations with allies and China
60th Anniversary of the International Atomic Energy Agency
| Briefing Book
Declassified documents describe founding of IAEA including US demand for leadership role plus safeguards system and deep Soviet skepticism over agency effectiveness
Secrecy And Leaks: When The U.S. Government Prosecuted The Chicago Tribune
| Briefing Book
US dropped prosecution of Chicago Tribune for espionage during World War II for leaking that US Navy knew about Japanese plans to attack Midway Island
U.S. Embassy Tracked Indonesia Mass Murder 1965
| Briefing Book
U.S. government knew Indonesian Army was engaged in mass murder against Communists starting in 1965; U.S. supported suppression of left-leaning labor movement
The Cuban Missile Crisis at 55
| Briefing Book
The United States planned for the military occupation of Cuba in 1962 with a temporary American military governor in charge, according to newly declassified documents
National Security Agency Tracking of U.S. Citizens – “Questionable Practices” from 1960s & 1970s
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., September 25, 2017 – The National Security Agency’s (NSA) own official history conflated two different constitutionally "questionable practices" involving surveillance of U.S.
Trump Hides Mar-a-Lago Visitor Records
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., September 15, 2017 - The Department of Homeland Security today released exactly two pages of Mar-a-Lago presidential visitor records in response to a Freedom of Information Act (…
Chile: Secrets of State
| Briefing Book
Washington D.C., September 11, 2017 - Forty-four years after the U.S. - supported military coup, the Santiago Museum of Memory and Human Rights has inaugurated a special exhibit of declassified…
"Clean" Nukes and the Ecology of Nuclear War
| Briefing Book
Officials in 1960s  Sought Studies of “Longer-term Consequences of Nuclear Attacks on the Health of People or on Their Living Environment”
1953 Iran Coup: New U.S. Documents Confirm British Approached U.S. in Late 1952 About Ousting Mosaddeq
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., August 8, 2017 – The British Foreign Office approached the Truman administration on more than one occasion in late 1952 to propose a coup to overthrow Iranian Prime Minister…