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.
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan Was Not a Grand Design But a Grand Entanglement Resulting from Faulty Intelligence, Excessive Secrecy, and a Paralyzed Leadership, According to Conference of Former Decision-Makers
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., December 21, 2012 – On December 12, 1979, the Soviet Politburo gathered to formally approve the decision made several days earlier to send a "limited contingent" of Soviet forces…
U.S. Had Plans for "Full Nuclear Response" In Event President Killed or Disappeared during an Attack on the United States
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., December 12, 2012 – As late as 1968, the U.S.
Outdated Agency Regs Undermine Freedom of Information
| Briefing Book, | FOIA Audit
IN THE NEWS Updated December 6, 2012 Agencies lag on transparency, report says By Josh Hicks, The Washington Post, December 4, 2012 Federal Agencies Are Failing to Uphold Obama's Stated Commitment…
Declassified Documents Trace U.S. Policy Shifts on Use of Commercial Satellite Imagery from 1970s to Today
| Briefing Book
Washington, DC, November 27, 2012 – In the forty years since the first launch of a commercial imagery satellite – LANDSAT – in 1972, U.S. official policy has shifted dramatically from imposing…
Declassified Pentagon History Provides Hair-Raising Scenarios of U.S. Vulnerabilities to Nuclear Attack through 1970s
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., November 19, 2012 – For decades, U.S. command-control-and-communications (C3) systems were deeply vulnerable to nuclear attack, according to a recently declassified Pentagon study.
Global Competition and the Deterioration of U.S.-Soviet Relations, 1977-1980
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., November 12, 2012 – The U.S.-Soviet rivalry in the Third World created splits within the Carter administration and fundamental confusion in the Kremlin over the nature of U.S.
Declassified 1964 National Intelligence Estimate Predicts India's Bomb But Not Israel's
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., November 6, 2012 – The U.S.
Mikoyan's "Mission Impossible" in Cuba: New Soviet Evidence on the Cuban Missile Crisis
| Briefing Book
Washington, DC, October 27, 2012 – The Cuban Missile Crisis continued long after the "13 days" celebrated by U.S. media, with U.S.
The Underwater Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Submarines and the Risk of Nuclear War
| Briefing Book
Washington, DC, October 24, 2012 – Extreme temperatures, equipment breakdowns, and the reckless deployment of nuclear torpedoes aboard Soviet submarines near the quarantine line during the Cuban…
Cuban Missile Crisis Day by Day: From the Pentagon's "Sensitive Records"
| Briefing Book
The Pentagon during the Cuban Missile Crisis Part II.
Pentagon Estimated 18,500 U.S. Casualties in Cuba Invasion 1962, But If Nukes Launched, "Heavy Losses" Expected
| Briefing Book
The Pentagon during the Cuban Missile Crisis Part I.
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan a Case of Mission Creep, According to New Book and Original Soviet Documents
| Briefing Book
Washington, DC, October 13, 2012 – Contrary to U.S.
Cuban Missile Crisis Revelations: Kennedy's Secret Approach to Castro
| Briefing Book
Washington, DC, October 12, 2012 – On the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, new documents from the Robert Kennedy papers declassified yesterday and posted today by the National Security…
U.S.-Iran: Lessons from an Earlier War
| Briefing Book
Advance Praise for Becoming Enemies For those seeking to understand the roots of modern enmity between the U.S. and Iran, Becoming Enemies is a truly unique and wonderful resource. — Karim Sadjadpour…
The Soviet Cuban Missile Crisis: Castro, Mikoyan, Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Missiles of November
| Briefing Book
Washington, DC, October 10, 2012 – In November 1962, Cuba was preparing to become the first nuclear power in Latin America—at the time when the Kennedy administration thought that the Cuban Missile…
Lifting the Veil on NRO Satellite Systems and Ground Stations
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., October 4, 2012 – Today, the National Security Archive posts the fourth in a series of electronic briefing books concerning secrecy and satellite reconnaissance - one of the most…
Soviet Dissidents and Jimmy Carter
| Briefing Book
Moscow, Russian Federation, 18 September 2012 – The first-ever Web publication of previously secret U.S.
Jimmy Carter's Controversial Nuclear Targeting Directive PD-59 Declassified
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., September 14, 2012 – The National Security Archive is today posting - for the first time in its essentially complete form - one of the most controversial nuclear policy directives…
The Haqqani History: Bin Ladin's Advocate Inside the Taliban
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., September 11, 2012 – In the wake of the State Department's recent designation of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Haqqani Network as a terrorist organization, declassified documents posted…
Nuclear Terrorism: How Big a Threat?
| Briefing Book
Washington, D.C., September 7, 2012 – Eleven years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, how concerned Americans should be over threats of nuclear terrorism remains a subject of vigorous…