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.
Kennedy Considered Supporting Coup in South Vietnam, August 1963
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., December 11, 2009 - At a critical moment in August 1963, President John F. Kennedy saw only negative choices on Vietnam, according to new audio recordings and documentation posted…
The Area 51 File: Secret Aircraft and Soviet MiGs
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Washington, D.C., October 29, 2013 – The CIA's history of the U-2 spy plane, declassified this past summer, sparked enormous public attention to the U-2's secret test site at Area 51 in Nevada, but…
The Area 51 File: Secret Aircraft and Soviet MiGs
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., October 29, 2013 – The CIA's history of the U-2 spy plane, declassified this past summer, sparked enormous public attention to the U-2's secret test site at Area 51 in…
Every Nuclear-Tipped Missile is an "Accident Waiting to Happen"
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., October 7, 2013 – A nuclear accident never produced a nuclear detonation, but according to a new book by Eric Schlosser every nuclear-tipped missile "is an accident waiting to…
"Disreputable if Not Outright Illegal": The National Security Agency versus Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, Art Buchwald, Frank Church, et al.
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Washington, D.C., September 25, 2013 – During the height of the Vietnam War protest movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the National Security Agency tapped the overseas communications of…
Guatemalan Court Convicts National Police Chief
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Washington, D.C., September 24, 2013 – On September 20, a Guatemalan tribunal convicted the former director of the National Police of Guatemala, retired Col.
Underground Facilities: Intelligence and Targeting Issues
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RELATED LINKS: Iran's underground nuclear sites not immune to U.S. bunker-busters, experts say By Joby Warrick, The Washington Post  February 29, 2012  
Kissinger and Chile: The Declassified Record
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Washington, D.C., September 11, 2013 – Henry Kissinger urged President Richard Nixon to overthrow the democratically elected Allende government in Chile because his "'model' effect can be insidious…
The Snowden Affair
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., September 4, 2013 – Recent press disclosures about National Security Agency (NSA) electronic surveillance activities — relying on documents provided by Edward Snowden — have sparked…
CIA Confirms Role in 1953 Iran Coup
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Washington, D.C., August 19, 2013 – Marking the sixtieth anniversary of the overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, the National Security Archive is today posting recently declassified…
The Secret History of the U-2 — and Area 51
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Washington, D.C., August 15, 2013 – On 21 February 1955, Richard M. Bissell, a senior CIA official, wrote a check on an Agency account for $1.25 million dollars and mailed it to the home of Kelly…
Science, Technology and the CIA
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Washington, D.C., August 5, 2013 – Today, on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, the National Security Archive posts an update to its 2001…
Science, Technology and the CIA
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Washington, D.C., September 10, 2001 – Mention of the Central Intelligence Agency generally elicits visions of espionage and covert action operations.
The Limited Test Ban Treaty - 50 Years Later: New Documents Throw Light on Accord Banning Atmospheric Nuclear Testing
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Washington, D.C., August 2, 2013 – The United States and Soviet Union conducted underground testing that sometimes produced significant "venting" of radioactive gases and particles which crossed…
The Israel-Argentina Yellowcake Connection
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Argentine Documents on the Yellowcake Sale
Studies in Intelligence: New Articles from The CIA's In-House Journal
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Related Links Reading the North Korea Tea Leaves April 11, 2013 The Central Intelligence Agency's 9/11 File June 19, 2012 The National Security Agency Declassified March 11, 2005   […
Anatoly S. Chernyaev Diary, 1973
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Washington, D.C., May 25, 2013 – Today the National Security Archive is publishing — for the first time in English — excerpts from the diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev from 1973, along with edits and a…
Forced Disappearance in the Dominican Republic
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Related Links The Final Battle: Ríos Montt's Counterinsurgency Campaign May 9, 2013 Indicted for Genocide: Guatemala's Efraín Ríos Montt March 19, 2013
The 1983 War Scare: "The Last Paroxysm" of the Cold War Part III
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Related Links New Documents Reveal How a 1980s Nuclear War Scare Became a Full-Blown Crisis By Robert Beckhusen, Wired, May 16, 2013 The USSR and US Came Closer to Nuclear War Than We Thought…
The 1983 War Scare: "The Last Paroxysm" of the Cold War Part II
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Related Links New Documents Reveal How a 1980s Nuclear War Scare Became a Full-Blown Crisis By Robert Beckhusen, Wired, May 16, 2013