USMA Library Homepage: Social Sciences: International Affairs

Welcome to International Affairs

The study of International Affairs (IA) concerns issues of conflict and cooperation in the international system. This involves examination of domestic influences on state behavior, the foreign relations of states, and characteristics of the international system. Central concerns in IA include power, strategy, war, international cooperation, trade, and economic development.

Political Science Databases (International Relations)

Bibliography of Asian Studies This link opens in a new window
Explore a major multi-disciplinary index for the study of East, Southeast, and South Asia. It contains citations for Western-language journal articles, review articles, conference proceedings, chapters in edited volumes, and Festschrift published worldwide that relate to the study of Asia. The database aims to cover a broad range of subjects, with a special focus on the humanities and social sciences. Some of the subjects covered include anthropology, art, economics, history, language, literature, political science, religion, and sociology.
CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online This link opens in a new window
View a comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs with scholarship ranging from university research institutes, NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, conferences proceedings, books, journals and policy briefs. This contains a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward.
Congressional Research Service Reports This link opens in a new window
Publicly accessible government reports present a legislative perspective on topics such as agriculture policy, counterterrorism operations, banking regulation, and veteran's issues.
CQ Press Library This link opens in a new window
Browse resources on American government, current affairs, history, politics, public policy, and data analysis for the social sciences. Search across the following included content: Congress Collection, CQ Almanac, CQ Researcher Plus Archive, Political Handbook of the World, Politics in America, Public Affairs Collection, Voting and Elections collection and CQ Press Supreme Court Collection.
Congress Collection: A Comprehensive guide to the U.S. Congress, including floor votes.
CQ Almanac: Narrative accounts of major legislation from every congressional session, 1945-2020.
CQ Researcher: In-depth reporting on today's issues.
CQ Press Books: Books and reference titles covering American government, politics, history, and public policy.
Encyclopedia of American Government: Explanations regarding the who, how, and why of American democracy.
Politics in America: Profiles and commentary on every member of congress.
Public Affairs Collection: Primary sources, stats summaries, and in-depth reporting on policy and affairs.
Supreme Court Collection: Insight on the decisions and opinions of the Supreme Court.
Voting and Elections Collection: A look at U.S. elections, including returns from 1789-present.
Europa World Plus This link opens in a new window
Browse the economic, political, historical, and geographic profiles of 250+ countries and global regions. Users can also find the contact information for political, business, media, and cultural agencies and officials, including 1,900 international organizations.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports This link opens in a new window
Discover translated transcripts of foreign radio and television broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements. The reports are from 1974-1996 and contain political, military, economic, environmental, and sociological news and information.
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) This link opens in a new window
ICPSR maintains a data archive of more than 250,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. It hosts 21 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields. Its archive contains over 3,000 in a wide range of topics in political and social sciences.
An international consortium of more than 750 academic institutions and research organizations, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for the social science research community.
Issues & Controversies This link opens in a new window
Updated weekly, this resource presents key facts, arguments, history, and current context of current events and important issues.
Jane's This link opens in a new window
Source for information on defense, geopolitics, weapons systems, and security. Login with your westpoint.edu email address.
Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) Reports This link opens in a new window
Features English translations of foreign-language monographs, reports, serials, journal and newspaper articles, and radio and television broadcasts from regions throughout the world. Emphasis on communist and developing countries, this digital edition of Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) Reports, 1957-1995, contains hard-to-find social science, scientific, and technical materials translated from many languages.
OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new window
The online library of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) featuring its books, papers and statistics and is the gateway to OECD’s analysis and data. Content published by related agencies is also included.
Our subscription does NOT include the datasets or CSV files for the IEA, however statistical annuals provide that data, in PDF format. Access to all the content up to the end of November 2018, new content will not be available (except to read) past that date.
Official Documents of the United Nations This link opens in a new window
Collection of official United Nations documentation, beginning in 1993. Provides access to the resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council from 1946 onwards.
Policy File Index This link opens in a new window
Citations and abstracts, most with links to full text, for U.S. public policy research from over 350 think tanks, non-governmental organizations, research institutes, university centers, advocacy groups, and other entities.

Provided by the Class of 1946.
Polling the Nations This link opens in a new window
A database of polls taken on a variety of subjects all over the world from 1986 to the present.
Proquest Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Large collection of electronic books in a wide range of fields. Most are current or recent titles.
United Nations Treaty Collection This link opens in a new window
Discover full-text of the United Nations Treaty Series, the United Nations Treaty Series Cumulative Index, and the League of Nations Treaty Series, the current status of the Multilateral Treaties deposited with the Secretary-General, and texts of recently deposited multilateral treaties.
War & Terrorism Collection This link opens in a new window
Browse articles on war and its causes, current events, terrorism, and more.
World Bank Open Data This link opens in a new window
Find access to a wide range of datasets covering worldwide economics, finance, development, health, education, and environmental topics.

eBooks

Containment in the Middle East by Ehud Eilam
Call Number: DS63.18 .E45 2019 (Electronic Resource)
ISBN: 9781640122529
Publication Date: 2019
National security affairs analyst Ehud Eilam examines the strategy of containment in the Middle East as it is currently pursued. For the United States, containment is a way to avoid war with Iran and thwart its nuclear weapons program. For Israel it has been a way to prevent a confrontation with the Palestinians in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Containment was also part of the war in Syria, though it cost the civilian population there dearly. Ultimately the author provides important and timely insights into the Middle East’s perennially fluid and volatile political environment.

Books

The Wealth of a Nation: A History of Trade Politics in America by C. Donald Johnson
Call Number: HF1753 .J64 2018 (New Books Shelf)
ISBN: 9780190865917
Publication Date: 2018
In this authoritative history of the politics of international trade in America from the Revolution to the Trump era, the author asks whether America is better off under a liberal trade regime, or if protectionism has been more beneficial. After World War II, America was the primary architect of the liberal free-trade economic order that ended up dominating the globe for over half a century. Recent years, however, have seen a swelling anti-free trade movement that casts the postwar liberal regime as anti-worker, pro-capital, and - in Donald Trump's view - even anti-American. The author argues that among other benefits the postwar free trade regime has helped American workers.

Think Tanks

Multipolarity in Practice: Understanding Russia's Engagement With Regional Institutions
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014, the Kremlin has intensified its engagement with international institutions. This paper evaluates the drivers of this involvement, Russian views of three of these organizations, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and to a lesser extent the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), and Moscow's success in achieving its objectives.
Saudi First: How Hyper-Nationalism is Transforming Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is embracing a new nationalism that is transforming domestic politics and the country's foreign policy. The state is actively nurturing this nationalism, but the leadership may have created a Trojan horse: already nationalists appear to be training their ferocity back on the state that created them.

Council on Foreign Relations RSS Feed

Websites

The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index
167 countries scored on a scale of 0 to 10 based on 60 indicators. Categories include Authoritarian regime, Hybrid regime, Flawed democracy, Full democracy.
Political Handbook of the World
The Political Handbook of the World contains entries on countries and territories around the world. It covers each country's political parties and includes names of key ambassadors, international memberships, and profiles intergovernmental organizations.
U.S. Department of State
The State Department's official website with the following mission statement: Shape and sustain a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and foster conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of the American people and people everywhere.
WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources
International Affairs Resources is a frequently updated Internet directory of over 2000 annotated links to high-quality English-language sources of information and analysis in a wide range of international affairs, international relations, international studies, global studies, and global education topics.

Federal Government Websites

govinfo
govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. Very useful for acquiring primary sources by researching federal government documents.
Congress.gov
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information, providing timely information for Members of Congress and the public. Additionally, roll call votes are provided for both the House and Senate from 1989 to the present (101st to the 116th Congress).
U.S. Senate
Provides detailed information about Senators, committees, legislation and records, including recent roll call votes.
U.S. House of Representatives
Provides detailed information about individual Representatives, leadership, committees, and legislative activities.
whitehouse.gov
Provides information on President Trump's administration and public policies from the perspective of the President.