• Multimedia
• Blog
• Subscribe
• What's New
• Contact Us
• Archive

Bookmark

• Topic
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L

  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • XYZ

  
  Select the list of topics to display.
• Country
  • A-B
  • C-E
  • F-K
  • L-O
  • P-S
  • T-Z
  • Regions

  Please choose a country or other area, or a Region.
• Publication Type
• Speaker
  • A-C
  • D-K
  • L-R
  • S-Z
• Date
  • • Most Recent
    • Past 7 days
    • Past 90 days

About the U.S. Department of State Electronic Reading Room

 The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires agencies to make various types of records available for public inspection in both paper and electronic form. These records consist of: (A) "final opinions [and] . . . orders" rendered in the adjudication of administrative cases; (B) specific agency policy statements; (C) certain administrative staff manuals; and, (D) as of March 31, 1997, records disclosed in response to a FOIA request that "the agency determines have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records."

The policy directives and procedural guidelines of the U.S. Department of State are published in the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) and its supplemental Foreign Affairs Handbook (FAH).  Various policy statements, guidelines, and manuals may be located on the web sites of the offices and bureaus within the Department (see the Organizational List of Bureaus and Offices).  Records that have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests can be found under Declassified/Released Document Collections and in the Department of State Publications page. 

 

Department of State historical records can be found in the Office of the Historian, particularly in the Foreign Relations of the United States Series, and by visiting the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.  The Department of State Electronic Archives provides links to archived Department of State web sites and other historical resources, such as the Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the U.S. Information Agency.  This site is not maintained by the Department of State. 

 

Most of the information in the Electronic Reading Room is also available by visiting the Department’s Conventional FOIA Reading Room.  These reading rooms have been certified.