New library resources related to the Middle East (and Afghanistan and Greece)

This journey through our new resources will start in Afghanistan, then head West to Iran and then Mesopotamia, then South to the Southern Persian Gulf and Arabian peninsula, pausing in Egypt (as far West as we’ll go) then Northeast to the Levant and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Afghanistan in 1919: The Third Anglo-Afghan War : The Third Anglo-Afghan War began on 6 May 1919 and ended with an armistice on 8 August 1919. While it was essentially a minor tactical victory for the British in so much as they were able to repel the regular Afghan forces, in many ways it was a strategic victory for the Afghans. This collection of confidential correspondence, memoranda, orders, reports and other materials provide a broad spectrum of information on military policy and administration, including the organization, operations and equipment of the army during the war.

Iran (Persia): Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1883-1959 : Iran’s geopolitical importance at the end of the nineteenth century made it a central focus in the “great game” of diplomatic rivalry between the major imperial powers, Great Britain and Russia. The documents in this collection on Iran are sourced from the Central Files of the General Records of the Department of State.

Mesopotamia (Iraq, Kuwait, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria)

• Iraq: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1888-1944 : Iraq, from Ottoman rule through British colonial occupation and independence, is treated here from the perspective of the United States. The documents are sourced from the Central Files of the General Records of the Department of State.
• British Campaign In Mesopotamia, 1914-1918 : The Mesopotamian Campaign deserves to be far better known than it is—both in terms of its impact on the war and the subsequent course of the history of the Middle East. This new collection provides the opportunity to review the telegrams, correspondence, minutes, memoranda and confidential prints gathered together in the India Office Military Department on Mesopotamia.
• Middle East Online: Iraq 1914-1974 : This collection comprises a wide range of original source material from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers from the Anglo-Indian landing in Basra in 1914 through the British Mandate in Iraq of 1920-32 to the rise of Saddam Hussein in 1974. From the National Archives of the United Kingdom.
• US and Iraqi Relations: US Technical Aid, 1950-1958 : The program of technical cooperation in Iraq, prior to the Revolution of 1958, was frequently cited as an example of the ideal Point Four program. The overthrow of the established government led naturally to questions concerning the “failure” of American technical assistance in that country. From the microfilm collection entitled Records of U.S. Foreign Assistance Agencies, 1948-1961: U.S. Operations Mission in Iraq, 1950-1958.
• Records Of The Persian Gulf War : This collection contains materials related to the diplomatic and military response by the United States (as part of a multi-national force) to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. This collection comprises the FOIA Request 1998-0099-F, filed by the George H.W. Bush Library. All available documents, including those subsequently-opened and interfiled at the time of scanning, have been included.

Southern Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia

• Aden: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1880-1906 : Aden’s strategic location long made it a strategic asset. The British captured Aden in 1839, and it served as a key port on the route from the Mediterranean to India via the Suez Canal. The documents in this collection are sourced from the Central Files of the General Records of the Department of State from the U.S. National Archives.
• Saudi Arabia: Records of the US Department of State, 1930-1959 : This archive divides into two distinct parts. The first part, 1930-1944, documents a critical period in the formation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; the second part, 1955-1959, illustrates the day-to-day workings of the oil-rich state. Saudi Arabia, which extends over most of the Arabian peninsula, absorbed several tribal groups that had previously been dependent on the Ottoman empire. The documents in this collection on Saudi Arabia are sourced from the Central Files of the General Records of the Department of State of the U.S. National Archives
• Persian Gulf And Yemen: American Ascendancy And The Cold War, 1950-1959 : These documents highlight the structure and activities of the Persian Gulf States’ and Yemen’s political system, government, judiciary, laws, military, customs, economy, finance, agriculture, natural resources, industry, communications, and media.
• US Operations Mission to Saudi Arabia, 1950-1955: Correspondence and Subject Files of the Office of the Director : This record collection contains the correspondence files of the U.S. Operations Mission in Saudi Arabia during the early Cold War period, 1950-1955, as well as the Subject Files of the office of the Director documenting the myriad concerns and rationales that went into the control and direction of U.S. economic and technical assistance programs, as well as the coordination of mutual security activities, with respect to Saudi Arabia.

Egypt: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1853-1959 : This archive covers Egypt from the years before the opening of the Suez Canal through the era of British domination, Egyptian nationalism, and independence. The documents are sourced from the Central Files of the General Records of the Department of State from the U.S. National Archives.

The Levant - Western Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan

• Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Trans-Jordan: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1836-1944 : This timely collection covers U.S. perspectives on Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Trans-Jordan, from Ottoman rule to the era of British and French mandates following the First World War. The archive is sourced from the Central Files of the General Records of the Department of State of the U.S. National Archives.
• French Mandate in the Lebanon, Christian-Muslim Relations, and the US Consulate at Beirut, 1919-1935 : This collection consists of correspondence and telegrams received and sent by the American consular post in Beirut. The topics covered by these records include the protection of interests of American citizens, foreign trade, shipping, and immigration. But there is more to these records than traditional consular activities—the Beirut post provides a unique look into the French Mandate in Syria-Lebanon.
• British Mandate In Palestine/Arab-Jewish Relations & The US, 1920-1944 : This collection consists of correspondence and telegrams received and sent by the American consular post in Jerusalem. The topics covered by these records include the protection of interests of American citizens, foreign trade, shipping, and immigration. There are unique materials on the relationship of Palestinians to other Arab countries, British policies, the Zionist movement in Palestine and abroad, Communist influence in Palestine, reports on Islamic conferences, racial and religious disturbances and riots, the “holy places question,” partition of Palestine and the Arab Entente, Jewish-Arab relations and impact on Palestine, and Jewish and Arab national aspirations.
• Palestine and Israel: Records of the US Department of State, 1945-1959 : This archive traces the vitally important period that saw the end of the British mandate in Palestine. Documents address the role of the Security Council and General Assembly of the United Nations and that of the United States in the creation of the state of Israel. Included here are the Palestine Reference files of Dean Rusk and Robert McClintock, as well as documents from the Mission of the United States in Tel-Aviv. The years 1955-1959 contain instructions and correspondences of the U.S. Department of State.

Eastern Mediterranean - Cyprus, Turkey, Greece

• Turkey: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1802-1949 : Modern Turkey, from its late Ottoman roots in the early 19th-century to its emergence as a republic following the First World War, is traced here. Correspondences from U.S. Consults in Alexandretta, Ezerum, Harput, Siva, and Smyrna are included. This archive is sourced from the Central Files of the General Records of the Department of State of the U.S. National Archives.
• Democracy In Turkey, 1950-1959: Records Of The US State Department Classified Files : This collection of State Department documents provides access to unique primary source materials on the political, economic and social development of Turkey during a period of democratization in the 1950s.
• Cyprus Crisis in 1967: Standoff Between Greece And Turkey : The State Department’s Executive Secretariat was responsible for creating a documentary record on various International crises during the 1960s. The documents in The Cyprus Crisis, 1967 were collected and collated from a variety of State Department sources and represent an administrative history of the crisis from the perspective of the U.S. government and its foreign policy. This collection includes almost a day-by-day record of the events, including the U.S. and the United Nation’s response to the civil war and the threat to NATO.

Pan-regional

• The Middle East Online: Arab Israeli Relations 1917-1970 : This archive places before scholars of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict, for the first time, the widest range of original source material from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office and Cabinet Papers preserved at the National Archives, from the Balfour Declaration through to the Black September War of 1970-71. From the National Archives of the United Kingdom.
• US Middle East Peace Policy and America’s Role In The Middle East Peace Process, 1989-1993 : This collection contains Bush Presidential Records from a variety of White House offices. These files consist of letters of correspondence, memoranda, coversheets, notes, distribution lists, newspaper articles, informational papers, published articles, and reports from the public, the Congress, Bush administration officials, and other various federal agencies primarily regarding American Middle East peace policy and the United States’ role in the many facets of the Middle East peace process. From the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library.
• George H. W. Bush and Foreign Affairs: the Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid : This collection comprises materials related to the planning and organization of the October 1991 Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid. It consists of correspondence, memoranda, cables, diplomatic dispatches, reports, studies, maps, and printed material which document all aspects of staging the conference as well as the conference itself. The materials detail the role of the United States in convening the peace conference and the interactions and positions of the various parties involved. Subjects include the Persian Gulf War; Operation Desert Shield; Oil; public opinion; Intifada; U.N. Security Council Resolutions; Land for Peace concept; Palestinians; Palestine Liberation Organization; among other topics.