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Now Available: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XI, START I

This volume is the first of two volumes devoted to the START I agreement with the Soviet Union to reduce and limit strategic offensive arms. This volume documents the negotations and internal U.S. deliberations during the Reagan administration.

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Office of the Historian Foreign Service Institute United States Department of State April 22, 2021 The Department of State released today Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XI, START I. This is the first of two volumes in the Foreign Relations series devoted to the START I agreement (the “Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms”), which President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed on July 31, 1991. It begins in the summer of 1981, when the Reagan administration recast the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) as the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) and concludes in early 1989 with the presidential transition to the Bush administration. Covered here are the initial rounds of negotiations in Geneva from June 1982 to November 1983; the incorporation of START into the Nuclear and Space Arms Talks (NST) in March 1985; the five meetings between Reagan and Gorbachev between 1985 and 1988; and the internal U.S. deliberations on strategic arms negotiations throughout these periods. Given the pivotal role of strategic defenses in negotiations on strategic arms reductions, deliberations and instructions pertaining to the Defense and Space Talks are also included in this volume. This volume was compiled and edited by James Graham Wilson. The volume and this press release are available on the Office of the Historian website at https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1981-88v11. Copies of the volume will be available for purchase from the U.S. Government Publishing Office online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov (GPO S/N 044-000-02707-1; ISBN 978-0-16-095834-2), or by calling toll-free 1-866-512-1800 (D.C. area 202-512-1800). For further information, contact history@state.gov.

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Now Available: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volumes X/XI/XII, American Republics; Cuba 1961–1962; Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath, Microfiche Supplement

This release replaces the image-only preview edition and marks the completion of the digitization of this microfiche supplement, originally published in 1998. The supplement is now keyword- and date-searchable online and downloadable as free ebooks.

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Office of the Historian Foreign Service Institute United States Department of State February 16, 2021 The Department of State released today Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume IV, Soviet Union, January 1983–March 1985 This volume is part of a subseries of volumes of the Foreign Relations series that documents the foreign policy decisions of the administration of President Ronald Reagan. The focus of the volume is on the development of the Reagan administration’s policies toward the Soviet Union from January 1983 to March 1985. The documentation demonstrates how administration officials developed a four-part agenda to deal with the Soviet Union on arms control, human rights, regional issues, and bilateral relations, and then promoted U.S. positions on these various issues during meetings with Soviet officials. The volume documents several Cold War flashpoints during the contentious months of 1983: the announcement in March 1983 of Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), the downing of the KAL 007 airliner by the Soviet Union on August 31, 1983, and the deployments of INF missiles to several NATO allied countries in late November 1983, which led to the Soviet walkout of arms control negotiations in Geneva. The volume also presents selective documentation related to the 1983 Soviet “War Scare” and the November 1983 NATO nuclear exercise, Able Archer (see Appendix A). Even with these challenges, Secretary of State George Shultz and others pressed to keep moving ahead with the four-part agenda and promote greater dialogue in U.S.-Soviet relations. This culminated in an agreement to open new arms control negotiations, the Nuclear and Space talks, on three tracks: START, INF, and Defense and Space, starting in March 1985. This volume was compiled and edited by Elizabeth C. Charles. The volume and this press release are available on the Office of the Historian website at https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1981-88v04. Copies of the volume will be available for purchase from the U.S. Government Publishing Office online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov (GPO S/N 044-000-02705-4; ISBN 978-0-16-095828-1), or by calling toll-free 1-866-512-1800 (D.C. area 202-512-1800). For further information, contact history@state.gov.

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Now Available: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–15, Part 2, Documents on Western Europe, 1973–1976, Second, Revised Edition

This volume documents the U.S. relationship with Western Europe from 1973 to 1976. This second, revised edition incorporates a chapter on Italy that was not included in the first edition, which was published in 2014.

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Office of the Historian Foreign Service Institute United States Department of State February 12, 2021 The Department of State released today Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–15, Part 2, Documents on Western Europe, 1973–1976, Second, Revised Edition. This volume is part of a subseries of volumes of the Foreign Relations series that documents the most important foreign policy issues of the Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford administrations. The focus of this volume is on the relationship between the United States and Western Europe from 1973 until 1976. It begins by examining the relationship from a regional perspective, focusing on the Year of Europe initiative, U.S. relations with its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies and the European Communities, and issues such as the rise of Eurocommunism. The volume then explores U.S. bilateral relations with nine countries: Canada, Portugal, Iceland and Norway (paired in a single Nordic countries chapter), Spain, the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, and Italy. This second, revised edition of Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume E–15, Part 2, Documents on Western Europe, 1973–1976, incorporates a chapter on Italy that was not included in the first edition of the volume, which was published in May 2014. The newly added chapter focuses on U.S. concerns about Italian political and economic stability. It features memoranda of conversation documenting meetings between Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and Italian political leaders and assessments of Italian political and economic developments prepared by U.S. officials in Washington and Rome. This volume was compiled and edited by Kathleen B. Rasmussen. The volume and this press release are available on the Office of the Historian website at https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve15p2Ed2. For further information, contact history@state.gov.

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Office of the Historian Foreign Service Institute United States Department of State December 1, 2020 The Department of State released today Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume V, Soviet Union, March 1985–October 1986. This volume is part of a subseries of volumes of the Foreign Relations series that documents the foreign policy decisions of the administration of President Ronald Reagan. The volume documents the development and implementation of the Reagan administration’s policies toward the Soviet Union from March 1985 to October 1986. The volume focuses on how the administration approached the new Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, and his reform efforts; arms control negotiations at the Nuclear and Space Talks, which opened in Geneva in March 1985; the Geneva Summit of November 1985 and the Reykjavik Summit of October 1986, and various meetings among President Reagan, Secretary of State George Shultz, and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, his replacement Eduard Shevardnadze, and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. The documentation in this volume provides a more nuanced understanding of the relationship that developed between Reagan and Gorbachev during this period, through their summits and correspondence. The volume also shows how the Reagan administration continued to adhere to the four-part framework it established in January 1983 in dealing with the Soviet Union, regardless of the new leadership of Gorbachev. Administration officials worked diligently to move the U.S.-Soviet relationship forward; the sustained level of understanding and cooperation they developed with Gorbachev and Shevardnadze played a major role in this endeavor. This volume was compiled and edited by Elizabeth C. Charles. The volume and this press release are available on the Office of the Historian website at https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1981-88v05. Copies of the volume will be available for purchase from the U.S. Government Publishing Office online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov (GPO S/N 044-000-02706-2; ISBN 978-0-16-095833-5), or by calling toll-free 1-866-512-1800 (D.C. area 202-512-1800). For further information, contact history@state.gov.

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Office of the Historian Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State November 17, 2020 The Department of State released today Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XI, Part 1, Iran: Hostage Crisis, November 1979–September 1980. This volume is part of a Foreign Relations subseries that documents the foreign policy decisions of the administration of President Jimmy Carter. The volume documents the Carter administration’s efforts to resolve the U.S.-Iranian crisis over the taking of U.S. hostages in Tehran. The absence of direct diplomatic communications between the United States and Iran during this period compelled the Carter administration to rely on a variety of official and unofficial intermediaries in its attempts to negotiate the release of the hostages. The administration considered and pursued a variety of diplomatic and economic strategies intended to convince the Iranian Government that it should take steps to end the crisis and secure the return of the hostages. Such moves included negotiations regarding the former Shah of Iran and his presence in the United States and other countries. The volume also documents Carter administration officials’ consideration of military pressure strategies, while they concurrently developed operational plans to rescue the hostages. Lack of success in the negotiation efforts led President Carter to authorize a military rescue mission in April 1980. The volume documents the rescue operation’s failure to free the hostages, as well as the Carter team’s handling of the mission aftermath and their continued work to achieve a resolution to the hostage crisis. The volume concludes in early September 1980, when Iran seated a new government and several leading Iranian officials publicly suggested their readiness to end the hostage crisis. This volume was compiled and edited by Linda Qaimmaqami. The volume and this press release are available on the Office of the Historian website at https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v11p1. Copies of the volume will be available for purchase from the U.S. Government Publishing Office online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov (GPO S/N 044-000-027-3-8; ISBN 978-0-16-095831-1), or by calling toll-free 1-866-512-1800 (D.C. area 202-512-1800). For further information, contact history@state.gov.

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Office of the Historian Foreign Service Institute United States Department of State August 8, 2019 This volume is part of a Foreign Relations subseries that documents the most important foreign policy issues of the Jimmy Carter administration. This volume documents the Carter administration’s approach to the South Asia region in response to the shifting political landscape at the end of the 1970s. During the first three years of Carter’s presidency, U.S. relations with South Asia were shaped by three contextual factors: tensions over nuclear proliferation, the rivalry between India and Pakistan, and the Carter administration’s preference for developing closer ties with democratically-elected governments. Under this preference, U.S. relations with India improved while relations with Pakistan withered. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late December 1979 led Carter to seek closer relations with Pakistan in order to thwart what his administration feared to be a new era of Soviet expansion. Carter’s efforts to enlist support against the Soviet Union regarding Afghanistan eclipsed the administration’s fear of nuclear proliferation, and U.S. sponsorship of India-Pakistan rapprochement suffered from the U.S. attempt to send Pakistan large scale military aid and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s refusal to condemn the Soviet invasion The volume also includes documentation on the Carter administration’s policy towards Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. While issues such as the attempted coup d’état in Bangladesh in 1977 and Bangladesh’s membership in the United Nations Security Council during the Iranian hostage crisis brought Bangladesh in conflict with the Carter administration, relations toward these countries were largely subject to policy objectives relating to India and Pakistan. The promotion of democratic governance and human rights, along with food aid, represented the significant policy initiatives towards these countries. This volume was compiled and edited by Seth A. Rotramel. The volume and this press release are available on the Office of the Historian website at https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v19. Copies of the volume will be available for purchase from the U.S. Government Publishing Office online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov (GPO S/N 044-000-02699-6; ISBN 978-0-16-095156-5), or by calling toll-free 1-866-512-1800 (D.C. area 202-512-1800). For further information, contact history@state.gov.

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Office of the Historian Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State December 20, 2018 The Department of State released today Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XII, Afghanistan. This volume is part of a Foreign Relations subseries that documents the most important foreign policy issues of the Jimmy Carter administration. The focus of this volume is on the Carter administration’s approach to events in Afghanistan during the buildup of the Soviet Union’s presence in that country beginning in early 1978 and culminating in the large scale invasion of Soviet troops at the end of 1979. Officials in the Carter administration regarded Soviet actions as among the most flagrant violations of international norms during the Cold War. The volume is arranged chronologically, with the majority of documents concentrated around the crisis period during the lead-up to the invasion, and during the aftermath, when the Carter administration formulated a range of policy responses to challenge the Soviet Union’s domination of Afghanistan. This compilation was compiled and edited by David Zierler. This PDF version of the volume and press release are available on the Office of the Historian website at https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v12. The full text and ebooks of the volume will be released on a later date. Copies of the volume will be available for purchase from the U.S. Government Printing Office online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov (GPO S/N 044-000-02697-0; ISBN 978-0-16-094970-8), or by calling toll-free 1-866-512-1800 (D.C. area 202-512-1800). For further information, contacthistory@state.gov.

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Office of the Historian Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State May 31, 2018 This revised edition incorporates critical material found since the publication of the first edition in 2014. This added material consists largely of personal handwritten notes taken at the September 5–17, 1978, Camp David summit by Samuel W. Lewis, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel from 1978 until 1985. Department of State historians found these notes while researching volumes for the administration of President Ronald Reagan, amidst Department material dating largely from the 1980s. Discovered subsequent to the initial publication of Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, volume IX, Arab-Israeli Dispute, August 1978–December 1980, these documents add significantly to the record of U.S. diplomacy at Camp David. While they do not alter substantively the portrait of U.S. diplomacy at the summit already represented in the first edition of the volume, this material enhances the documentary record. Department of State historians also located a more complete version of a document already published in the first edition. Sometime shortly after the summit’s completion on September 17, 1978, U.S. officials produced a draft day-by-day summary of the meetings held over its duration. Readers familiar with the first edition will note that the version of this summary document published in that edition covers most, but not all, of the summit. As a result of these discoveries, the decision was taken to issue a revised edition. This volume was compiled and edited by Alexander R. Wieland. The volume and this press release are available on the Office of the Historian website at https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v09Ed2. Copies of the volume will be available for purchase from the U.S. Government Publishing Office online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov (GPO S/N 044-000-02669-4; ISBN 978-0-16-092659-4), or by calling toll-free 1-866-512-1800 (D.C. area 202-512-1800). For further information, contact history@state.gov.

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In #FRUS our recently digitized…

In #FRUS our recently digitized volumes from #WWI contain numerous items of interest to @RedCross and @ICRC historians and enthusiasts #twitterstorians

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Happy 137th to @RedCross! Pictured…

Happy 137th to @RedCross! Pictured is founder Clara Barton. #RedCross137 #twitterstorians

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.@GeorgeHWBush41 and #BarbaraBush #BikeToWork in…

.@GeorgeHWBush41 and #BarbaraBush #BikeToWork in 1974 in Beijing. You want to read his reporting from #China? Go here history.state.gov/historicaldocu… #FRUS #BTWD2018 #Bike2Work @Bush41Library

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The #Chinese produced 1.7 million…

The #Chinese produced 1.7 million bicycles per year at the Forever factory in Shanghai and was an example of the strengths and weaknesses of their modernization efforts. buff.ly/2Ik6xon #BikeToWork #BTWD2018 #FRUS

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Sometimes diplomacy is awkward, as…

Sometimes diplomacy is awkward, as when #Spain’s Foreign Minister Areilza stated to Secretary Kissinger that the Danish Army rides in on bikes. buff.ly/2rJGzzj #BikeToWork #BTWD2018 #FRUS

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Students! Apply now to intern…

Students! Apply now to intern in 2019 at the @StateDept Office of the Historian (@HistoryAtState)! historians.org/news-and-advoc… @AHAhistorians #twitterstorians

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Ground was broken for the…

Ground was broken for the @diplomacycenter, a museum and educational center located outside of the main Department of State building in Washington, DC, on September 3, 2014. history.state.gov/departmenthist… #twitterstorians

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On June 19, 2009, Secretary…

On June 19, 2009, Secretary of State Clinton announced that same-sex partners of @StateDept employees would be entitled to the benefits and allowances extended to family members. history.state.gov/departmenthist… #twitterstorians

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Between October 12 and 22,…

Between October 12 and 22, 2001, the @StateDept’s main mail processing center in Sterling, VA, was closed after an anthrax-contaminated letter was routed there after the September 11 terrorist attacks. go.usa.gov/xQN6F #twitterstorians

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