Created in collaboration with the National Security Archive, this database is the most comprehensive collection available of significant primary documents central to U.S. foreign and military policy since 1945.

This database contains the most important, declassified documents -- totaling more than 488,000 pages -- that have been gathered through extensive use of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): many are published now for the first time.

The Archive is made up of 29 collections, each focused on a single topic:

• Afghanistan   : The Making of U.S. Policy, 1973-1990
• The Berlin Crisis, 1958-1962
• China   and the U.S.: From Hostility to Engagement, 1960-1998
• The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
• Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited: An International Collection of Documents, from the Bay of Pigs to the Brink of Nuclear War
• Death Squads, Guerrilla Wars, Covert Operations, and Genocide: Guatemala and the United States, 1954 - 1999
• El Salvador   : The Making of U.S. Policy, 1977-1984
• El Salvador   : War, Peace, and Human Rights, 1980-1994
• Iran   : The Making of U.S. Policy, 1977-1980
• The Iran-Contra Affair: The Making of a Scandal, 1983-1988
• Iraqgate: Saddam Hussein, U.S. Policy and the Prelude to the Persian Gulf War, 1980-1994
• Japan   and the U.S.: Diplomatic, Security, and Economic Relations, Part I: 1960-1976
• Japan   and the U.S.: Diplomatic, Security, and Economic Relations, Part II: 1977 – 1992 (new in 2006)
• The Kissinger Transcripts: A Verbatim Record of U.S. Diplomacy, 1969-1977
• Nicaragua   : The Making of U.S. Policy, 1978-1990
• The Philippines: U.S. Policy during the Marcos Years, 1965-1986
• Presidential Directives on National Security, Part I:  From Truman to Clinton
• Presidential Directives on National Security, Part II:  From Truman to George W. Bush
• South Africa   : The Making of U.S. Policy, 1962-1989
• The Soviet Estimate: U.S. Analysis of the Soviet Union, 1947-1991
• Terrorism and U.S. Policy, 1968-2002
• U.S.   Espionage and Intelligence
• The U.S. Intelligence Community: Organizations, Operations, and Management, 1947-1989
• U.S.   Nuclear History: Nuclear Arms and Politics in the Missile Age, 1955-1968
• U.S.   Military Uses of Space, 1945-1991
• U.S.   Nuclear Non-Proliferation Policy, 1945-1991
• U.S.   Policy in the Vietnam War, Part I: 1954 – 1968
• U.S.   Policy in the Vietnam War, Part II: 1969 – 1975
• U.S. Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction: From World War II to Iraq

Each collection contains a diverse range of policy documents including presidential directives, memos, diplomatic dispatches, meeting notes, independent reports, briefing papers, White House communications, email, confidential letters, and other secret material. Additionally, reference supplements including introductory material, a chronology, a glossary, an essay, and a bibliography provide context and background for each collection. Documents have been selected by leading scholars in each of the topic areas. Each item has been abstracted and indexed over 20 different fields to enable powerful searching. Full images of each document can be viewed in GIF or PDF format.

In its totality, the DNSA offers the most effective research and teaching tool available in the area of U.S. foreign policy, intelligence, and security issues during this pivotal period of 20th century history, and into the 21st century.

Published with the cooperation of the National Security Archive.

About the National Security Archive:

Founded in 1985, the National Security Archive has developed a reputation as the most prolific and successful user of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Through its FOIA expertise, the Archive has built what the Christian Science Monitor called "the largest collection of contemporary declassified national security information outside the United States government."