How will the release of up to 250,000 diplomatic cables by Wikileaks affect future diplomatic communication? Some scholars feel that it will inhibit transparency by discouraging written communication. Prof. Jon Western‘s blog post, American Foreign Policy research and Wikileaks, describes the decades-long publication schedule of classified foreign policy communications, and whether Wikileaks will have an impact on scholarly foreign policy research.
Pre-Wikileaks, historians would have to wait 20-30 years for documents to be declassified and published in the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS). FRUS is “the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity” published by the Office of the Historian in the State Department. Historians at the State Department compile declassified documents from various sources (State Department, Defense Department, National Security Council, CIA, National Archives, presidential libraries, transcripts of presidential tapes, etc.), usually publishing FRUS volumes 25-30 years after the fact. The most recent volume (XXXII) covers the U.S. policy on the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) between the years of 1969-76. Other volumes published this year cover Vietnam between 1972-75.
The SFSU Government Publications collection includes almost all of the Foreign Relations of the United States series, from the first volume published in 1861. Varying years of the FRUS are available online from the University of Wisconsin’s Digital Collections, and the State Department website.
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American Foreign Policy research and Wikileaks, Jon Western, Nov. 30, 2010, The Duck of Minerva (blog).
We Really Don’t Need Wikileaks, Jon Western, Dec. 2, 2010, Current Intelligence.
Wikileaks and the Historical Community, K.C. Johnson, Nov. 29, 2010, History News Network.
Foreign Relations of the U.S. (FRUS)
Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) at SFSU. SFSU has the print volumes of FRUS from 1861.
Historical Documents (online), Foreign Relations of the United States, Office of the Historian, State Department.
Foreign Relations of the United States (online), University of Wisconsin Digital Collections [1861-1958/1960].
Management Review of the Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Report Number ISP-I-09-43, May 2009. This critical audit describes the FRUS series and how it’s compiled.
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