Foreign Relations of the United States, commonly referred to as FRUS, prepared and issued by the Department of State since 1861, is a compilation of selected documents from the files of the Department of State, the White House, and other agencies. It presents a historical view of American foreign policy and now comprises more than 450 individual volumes. Besides providing the text of important foreign policy documents, FRUS also includes source citations (printed either with the document or as footnotes) that indicate the location of the original documents. In this way, FRUS serves as a guide to the location of additional documents on the same and related subjects not selected for publication.

FRUS begins with the administration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861. There are two cumulative indexes covering 1861-1899 and 1900-1918. The organization of FRUS is generally chronological, but the dates of the volumes do not necessarily reflect the dates of documentary history. For example, the volumes for 1900-1918 do not include the records dealing with World War I or the Russian Revolution. Each volume has a subject and author index. There is also typically a table of sources and abbreviations at the beginning of each volume.

The central files are the most inclusive and authoritative repository of reporting by American diplomatic and consular posts overseas. In addition, the files include Department of State communications with foreign diplomatic and consular offices in the United States, correspondence with other U.S. Government agencies and the public, and internal memorandums and reports.

Some of these items might be available online while others aren't. You can put in a reproduction request with a fee to access those items that aren't readily available online.

Executive Order 13526 of December 29, 2009 [Classified National Security Information] prescribes a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information, including information relating to defense against transnational terrorism.

The Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) began in 1941 as the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service (later the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service). Its purpose is to provide translations of radio broadcasts in selected foreign countries. FBIS also encompasses the Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) which translates foreign language print media. As open source intelligence, FBIS is an index to foreign media reports covering political, economic, scientific, and cultural issues and events throughout the world.