Summary
Overview
Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations Records: Studies Department Series
133.87 linear feet, in 322 boxes
Abstract
The Council on Foreign Relations is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and national membership organization dedicated to promoting improved understanding of international affairs and to contributing ideas to United States foreign policy. The Studies Department Series documents the planning and execution of the various study groups (including discussion groups, current issue review groups, seminars, workshops and conferences) and projects.
Description
Description
The Studies Department Series documents the planning and execution of the various study groups (including discussion groups, current issue review groups, seminars, workshops and conferences) and projects. Documents in this series reflect the administration of the Studies Department (mainly through correspondence and subject files), the records of the groups themselves (through correspondence, background papers, meeting minutes and final reports), and the subject files and correspondence of major players in the Council’s Studies Department from the 1940s onward.
Collection Creator
History
The Council on Foreign Relations (the Council) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and national membership organization dedicated to promoting improved understanding of international affairs and to contributing ideas to United States foreign policy. The Council has had a large impact in the development of twentieth century United States foreign policy. Its membership has historically been drawn from those in business, government and academia recognized as the nation’s opinion leaders in international relations; membership is by invitation only. The Council’s basic constituency is its members, but it also reaches out to a wider audience through its publications, Committees on Foreign Relations, Corporate Program, and media efforts, so as to contribute to the national dialogue on foreign policy.
The Studies Department spearheads the Council on Foreign Relation's efforts to promote informed discussion on issues shaping the international agenda and defines the Council's function as a foreign policy research organization. This "think tank" has played a vital role in the Council since its incorporation in the 1920s. The department includes a large number of scholars and research associates who engage each other, Council members, and non-affiliated individuals in research on topics and regions related to United States foreign policy, which historically have included topics such as international trade, arms control, and economic development, and regions such as the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and Latin America, to name a few. The Studies program produces articles, books, policy reports and papers to disseminate the research undertaken by staff and members.
For a fuller history on the Council on Foreign Relations, see the finding aid for the Council on Foreign Relations Records located at http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/gb19f5814, Peter Grose’s Continuing the Inquiry: The Council on Foreign Relations from 1921-1996, located at http://www.cfr.org/about/history/cfr/ and Michael Wala’s The Council on Foreign Relations and American Foreign Policy in the Early Cold War (Providence: Berghahn Books, 1994).
Collection History
Acquisition
The collection was deposited at the Library in 1998. Title and custody of the collection were formally transferred to Princeton in 2002. Small transfers of more recent records occur annually.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Mudd Library Staff including Jennifer Cole, Dan Santamaria, Kristine Marconi, Joanna Peery Polyn, Jennifer Walele, Stasia Karel, Helene Van Rossum, and Princeton University student workers from 2003-2006. Finding aid written by Jennifer Cole in 2006.
Accruals
Accruals are expected from the Council on Foreign Relations on an annual basis.
Bibliography
Information in the Organizational History section was gathered from material within the Council’s records (notably historical information from the Administration Series and Annual Reports from the Publications Series), as well as the Council on Foreign Relations’ website, www.cfr.org. Of special interest are the annual reports, located at http://www.cfr.org/about/annual_report/ and Peter Grouse’s Continuing the Inquiry: The Council on Foreign Relations from 1921-1996, located at http://www.cfr.org/about/history/cfr/.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
All Council on Foreign Relations records are closed for 25 years after the date of their creation.
Use Restrictions
All users must sign a consent form where they agree to the following: "As a condition of use, the officers of the Council shall require each user of Council records to execute a prior written commitment that he or she will not directly or indirectly attribute to any living person any assertion of fact or opinion based upon any Council record without first obtaining from such person his or her written consent thereto." Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Curator of Public Policy Papers. The Council retains copyright that it possesses in all published and unpublished material, sound recordings, electronic files and any item formatted in any medium; researchers are responsible for determining any question of copyright.
Preferred Citation
Council on Foreign Relations Records: Studies Department Series; 1918-2004, Public Policy Papers, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Find More
Topics
Subject Terms
Genre Terms
Other Finding Aids
The Council on Foreign Relations Studies Department Records form part of the The Council on Foreign Relations Records (collection MC104). A Finding Aid for the entire collection is available online: Council on Foreign Relations Records Finding Aid.
The Meetings Records of the Council on Foreign Relations are described in a separate finding aid: Council on Foreign Relations Meetings Finding Aid.
Digital sound recordings of some Council meetings are available online. The digital recordings of meeting are described in a separate finding aid: Council on Foreign Relations Digital Sound Recordings Finding Aid.
Alternative Form Available
Portions of the Council’s records from 1921-1951, include Conferences, Study Groups, Meetings, and the War and Peace Project, are also available on microfiche at Princeton’s Firestone Library [MICROFICHE 1637]. The creation of this microfiche was conducted between the University Publications of America and the Council on Foreign Relations and did not involve Princeton University. A guide is available, see Film B Uncataloged box for microfiche 1637 at Firestone Microforms Services (Film). Additionally, many of the Council’s reports are available in published form. Please consult the Princeton University Library online catalog for available published reports.
Portions of the Council’s audio records described in the Sound Recordings Series have been digitized as part on an ongoing project. Contact the library for additional details.
A paper version of the "Records of Groups Index," covering the years 1922-1973, is available at the Mudd Manuscript Library.
Princeton University Library Finding Aids 
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