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.
CIA Confirms Role in 1953 Iran Coup
| Briefing Book
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
| Briefing Book
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
| Briefing Book
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
| Briefing Book
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
| Briefing Book
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
| Briefing Book
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
| Briefing Book
Related Links New Documents Reveal How a 1980s Nuclear War Scare Became a Full-Blown Crisis By Robert Beckhusen, Wired, May 16, 2013
The 1983 War Scare: "The Last Paroxysm" of the Cold War Part I
| Briefing Book
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 Final Battle: Ríos Montt's Counterinsurgency Campaign
| Briefing Book
After weeks of powerful testimony and excruciating procedural wrangling, the trial of former Guatemalan dictator Efraнn Rнos Montt and his intelligence chief Josй Rodrнguez Sбnchez on charges of…
National Security Agency Tasked with Targeting Adversaries' Computers for Attack Since Early 1997, According to Declassified Document
| Briefing Book
Since at least 1997, the National Security Agency (NSA) has been responsible for developing ways to attack hostile computer networks as part of the growing field of Information Warfare (IW),…
China May Have Helped Pakistan Nuclear Weapons Design, Newly Declassified Intelligence Indicates
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., April 23, 2013 – China was exporting nuclear materials to Third World countries without safeguards beginning in the early 1980s, and may have given Pakistan weapons design…
The Thatcher-Gorbachev Conversations
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Washington, D.C., April 12, 2013 – Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister who passed away this week, built a surprising mutual-admiration relationship with the Soviet leader Mikhail…
Reading the North Korean Tea Leaves: The Perpetual Struggle to Fathom Pyongyang's Motives and Goals
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., April 11, 2013 – For decades, the erratic behavior of North Korea's enigmatic leaders has often masked a mix of symbolic and pragmatic motives, according to declassified documents…
Freedom of Information Follies: FOIA Reviewers Declassify Same Rwanda Document Four Times, Creating New Secrets Each Time
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Washington, D.C., April 3, 2013 – The U.S.
Indicted for Genocide: Guatemala's Efraín Ríos Montt
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., March 19, 2013 – The groundbreaking genocide trial of Efraнn Rнos Montt, retired army general and former dictator of Guatemala, opens today with the presentation of the prosecution'…
The Iraq War Ten Years After
| Briefing Book
Archive Electronic Briefing Books Cited in This Posting THE IRAQ WAR -- PART II: Was There Even a Decision? October 1, 2010 THE IRAQ WAR -- PART I: The U.S. Prepares for Conflict, 2001 September 22…