Digital National Security Archive DNSA

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Digital National Security Archive (DNSA)

• The documents that made U.S. foreign policy.

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Digital National Security Archive

• What is DNSA?
• New Collections
• Publication Process
• Using the Product
• FAQ

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Digital National Security Archive

• Published in collaboration with the National
  Security Archive in D.C.
• 55,000 key declassified documents
• Over 420,000 searchable page images
• Covers more than 50 years of U.S. foreign policy.
  

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Digital National Security Archive

• 24 topical collections of declassified content,
  including
• TERRORISM AND U.S. POLICY, 1968-2002
• U.S. POLICY IN THE VIETNAM WAR, PART I, 1954-1968
• DEATH SQUADS, GUERILLA WAR, COVERT OPERATIONS,
  AND GENOCIDE GUATEMALA AND THE UNITED STATES,
  1954-1999.

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What is the National Security Archive?

• World's largest non-governmental library of
  declassified documents
• An aggressive user of the Freedom of Information
  Act (FOIA)
• An award-winning non-profit
• 1999 George Polk Award for piercing
  self-serving veils of government secrecy, guiding
  journalists in search for the truth and informing
  us all.
• In December 2001, the National Journal listed the
  Archives home site as one of the top five online
  resources on terrorism.

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National Security Archive

• MISSION
• To open secret government files
• To provide context and access to previously
  unavailable primary sources.
• To connect scholars and general public with
  comprehensive collections of documents on topics
  of greatest interest

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DNSA 2005 Collections
Afghanistan 1973-1990 The Berlin Crisis
1958-1962 China and the U.S. 1960-1998 The Cuban
Missile Crisis, 1962 El Salvador 1977-1984 El
Salvador 1980-1994 Guatemala and the U.S.
1954-1999 Iran 1977-1980 The Iran Contra
Affair Iraqgate 1980-1994 Japan and the U.S.
1960-1976 Nicaragua 1978-1990 The Philippines,
1965-1986 Presidential Directives (Truman
Clinton) Presidential Directives (Truman G.W.
Bush) South Africa, 1962-1989 The Soviet Estimate
1947-1991 Terrorism and U.S. Policy,
1968-2002 U.S. Espionage and Intelligence The
U.S. Intelligence Community 1947-1989 U.S.
Nuclear History 1955-1968 Military Uses of
Space, 1945-1991 Nuclear Non-Proliferation,
1945-1990 U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War,
1954-1968
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DNSA HighlightsTERRORISM AND U.S. POLICY

• Principal emphasis International terrorism in
  Middle East and Southwest Asia
• Impetus 9/11 terrorist attacks
• Contains 1,500 documents from White House, FBI,
  CIA, and more.
• Coverage Begins with first politically-motivated
  hijacking hostage-taking of El Al jet in 1968
  through dozens of incidents over more than 3
  decades

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DNSA HighlightsTERRORISM AND U.S. POLICY
Materials released as result of lawsuit by
former AP reporter and hostage Terry Anderson
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DNSA HighlightsTERRORISM AND U.S. POLICY
Prepared by Federal Research Division of Library
of Congress 09/1999
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DNSA HighlightsTERRORISM AND U.S. POLICY
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DNSA Highlights U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War,
1954-1968

• Principal emphasis Period of the Vietnam War
  between 1961 and 1968 (part 1 of 2 collections)
• Contains 1,576 documents originating from U.S.
  embassy in Vietnam, Dept. of State, CIA, Dept. of
  Defense, and more.
• Value Documents the deadliest conflict in modern
  U.S. history prior to the current war against
  terrorism.

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US Policy in the Vietnam War, 1954-1968
Top Secret memo from Chairman of Joint Chiefs of
Staff to Sec. of Defense McNamara, October 14,
1966 .
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US Policy in the Vietnam War, 1954-1968
Secret cable sent from U.S. Ambassador to U.N. to
Dept. of State, 1961
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Digital National Security Archive (DNSA)

• What Makes DNSA Different?

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What makes DNSA Different?

• EACH COLLECTION IS SUPPORTED BY
• Full-page images of all primary documents

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What makes DNSA Different?

• EACH COLLECTION IS SUPPORTED BY
• In-depth introduction and analytical
  essay by experts

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What makes DNSA Different?
China and the U.S.

• EACH COLLECTION IS SUPPORTED BY
• Searchable indexed chronology detailing key
  political events

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What makes DNSA Different?

• EACH COLLECTION IS SUPPORTED BY
• Searchable indexed glossary of people, terms, and
  events

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What makes DNSA Different?

• EACH COLLECTION IS SUPPORTED BY
• Bibliography with searchable indexed citations.

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DNSA Authoritative Sourcing

• Source documents include
• Top-secret presidential directives
• Internal working papers
• Confidential cables
• Eyes-only memos
• Single-copy briefing books
• Codeword intelligence reports
• Sensitive meeting minutes
• Email messages preserved from deletion

Includes documents shredded at U.S. Embassy in
Tehran and reassembled by Iranian militants.
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DNSA Sample Documents
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Digital National Security Archive (DNSA)

• Publication Process

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DNSA Content Selection

• The National Security Archive
• TARGETS key documents centered around an event or
  issue.
• ORGANIZES expert editors and scholars to compile
  collections
• NOTE Many editors were policy makers
  themselves, and include Secretary of Defense
  Robert S. McNamara, Undersecretary of State
  George Ball, and Special Assistant to the
  President Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
• FILES hundreds of FOIA requests to retrieve these
  documentssometimes going to court to declassify
  them!

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DNSA Goes the Distance
Communist Party Archives from former East Germany
and in Russia
Bush Library in Texas
Carter Library in Georgia
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DNSA Controlled-Vocabulary Indexing

• Scholars in foreign policy at the Archive index
  and summarize all documents, capturing 20 fields
  including
• Subject
• People named
• Classification
• Creator
• Recipient
• Abstract
• Etc.

Indexing lists people who have served under
several titles (Secretary of State, Ambassador,
etc.) Indexing picks up alternative spellings of
names in Arabic, Chinese, Russian, etc.
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PQ Distributes DNSA

• Each collection is published in microfiche with a
  printed guide.
• Fiche collections are scanned to provide full
  image access to documents in DNSA.
• Chronologies, essays, glossaries, bibliographies,
  photographs and other supporting material are
  searchable in DNSA.
• Updated with new collections annually.
• DNSA is available by permanent access.

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Digital National Security Archive (DNSA)

• Using the Product

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Use KEYWORD to search for key terms and people.
Search any combination of 11 index fields,
including subject, classification, date, creator,
and recipient.
Use CLASSIFICATION to search by level of
government classification.
Use DOCUMENT TYPE to search by type of record,
such as memo, email, telegram, minutes and more.
Use COLLECTION field to search for documents in a
specific topic collection (s)
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Searching Iraq AND Bush in KEYWORD field yields
42 records from different collections.
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Click a title to go to the full citation and
document image.
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Click the title for the full image.
Hyperlinked names link to glossary definitions.
Hyperlinked subjects find other documents in DNSA
with that subject.
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View documents in .GIF format (small or large) or
download in PDF.
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Collections Find in-depth analysis and research
notes on all 20 collections in DNSA.
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Collections Cuban Missile Crisis includes an
essay, photos, and background on the documents.
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Chronology Search for events within a single
collection or in a date range across all
collections.
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Chronology results for Iraq-Gate details relevant
events regarding Iraq and the U.S.s relationship
with this country across administrations.
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Glossary In-depth definitions explain people and
terms in the context of the events in which they
were involved.
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Bibliography Find hundreds of additional
references for all 22 collections. Fully
searchable.
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Digital National Security Archive (DNSA)

• Frequently Asked Questions

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Why Use DNSA?

• DNSA AIDS RESEARCH IN
• U.S. foreign policy worldwide from the Cold War
  to today, including positions towards Iraq,
  Afghanistan, and international terrorism.
• The presidency and presidential policymaking
• Cabinet-level government and decision-making
• Executive Branch-congressional relations
• The role of Congress in foreign policy
• National security policy formation
• Intelligence studies
• U.S.-Soviet relations
• International relations
• U.S. nuclear policy
• and much more

It is important to my work, as a scholar, that I
have access to actual government documents Such
documents allow me to have a more accurate
understanding of events. The National Security
Archive is providing an invaluable
service. --Rachel M. McCleary, Ph.D., Lecturer,
Department of Politics, Princeton University
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How is DNSA Different?

• Unlike other declassified document resources
• The National Security Archive is not affiliated
  with the government
• Documents are targeted by experts for acquisition
• FOIA is aggressively used, lawsuits filed if
  necessary for more complete content and for
  timely release
• Documents supplemented by explanatory essays,
  chronologies, glossaries, and useful
  bibliographies.

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DNSA Common Questions

• Q Isnt the material in DNSA available on the
  Internet for free?
• A NO. The National Security Archive works for
  years to declassify these documents through FOIA
  (sometimes going to court!). These documents are
  identified as the cream of the crop on the
  topics and many are exclusive to DNSA.

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DNSA Upcoming Collections
U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War, Part II
1969-1975 Japan and the United States
Diplomatic, Security, and Economic Relations,
Part II, 1977-1992 The Kissinger Transcripts A
Verbatim Record of U.S. Diplomacy, 1969-1977
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DNSA Summary

• Essential primary documents (full-page images!)
  indexed by experts and targeted by expert
  researchers, using explicit selection criteria
• Editorial board of scholars and former officials
  for each subject collection
• Detailed authority-controlled indexing precise
  searching
• Chronologies, essays, glossary, and
  bibliographies prepared by foreign policy experts
  add context
• Steady growth, with new topical collections added
  annually.
• A collection of the primary documents that shaped
  U.S. foreign policy in the 20th Century and into
  the 21st Century!

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DNSA What Are The Experts Saying?

• Since 1985, the non-profit National Security
  Archive has been a FOILers best friend and
  become a one-stop shopping center for
  declassifying and retrieving important documents,
  suing to preserve such government data as e-mail
  messages, pressing for appropriate
  declassification of files, and sponsoring
  research that has unearthed major revelations.
  1999 George Polk Award
• Unparalleled in extent, and better organized and
  indexed than such materials anywhere else The
  combination of Freedom of Information Act
  materials with other documents at the Archive
  permits me to put together a picture of recent
  U.S. policies that I could not hope to duplicate
  elsewhere. Nikki Keddie, Professor of History,
  UCLA

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DNSA The Reviews are In!

• An indispensable resource not only for scholars
  but for anyone concerned about regional
  conflicts, the Reagan doctrine, and the origins
  of the post-Cold-War world.Dr. Barnett R.
  Rubin, Associate Professor of Political Science,
  Columbia University
• Anyone interested in one of the most dangerous
  crises of the Cold War era must take this
  collection into account. No research library can
  afford to be without it. Martin J. Hillenbrand,
  Professor of Political Science, University of
  Georgia former ambassador to West Germany

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Thank You.