Government Resources for Sociology 464: Systems of War & Peace

Since topics for this class can cover a wide range of subjects, the following suggestions should be considered as possible starting points only. Depending on the topic, there may be many other sources available. Feel free to inquire at our reference desk.

General databases to search for government documents

• UO Library Catalog. The online catalog contains U.S. federal government documents received since 1996, as well as many publications of international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union. Search for your topic as you would for any other kind of material then LIMIT/SORT and select C>Documents. For older materials it will be necessary to consult other databases.
• Government Bibliographic Databases. The library's Document Center has list of databases that contain citations to government documents. The ones listed under "General Bibliographies" should prove most useful for your subjects.

Official US Government Policy

There are several sources to find the positions of the US government on war and peace issues. For current policy positions, the White House web site and web sites of agencies responsible for national defense and security issues are excellent starting points. These are linked on our International Relations and Security Issues page. For government responses and attitudes toward historical events, use sources such as Public Papers of the Presidents (DOC-LC JK 1 .A52), The Congressional Record, and the texts of hearings held by appropriate Congressional committees, such as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or the House Armed Services Committee. Congressional committee hearings are often held to review and examine important international issues and events, such as the conflict in Bosnia or the Rwandan genocide. To locate Congressional hearings and reports, a useful database to use is Lexis-Nexis Congressional.

International Perspectives

To learn the perspective of other nations on war and peace issues it may be useful to look at the Official Records of the United Nations. You can find the text of speeches given in the General Assembly and the U.N. Security Council. Indexing is only by year, so it is important to know when your particular topic might have been discussed. For current issues, it might be useful to go the the web site of the Foreign Ministry of a country of interest. (Many of them are linked on our International Relations and Security Issues page under "Foreign Ministries of Other Nations". We also have extensive holding of documents from the Government of Canada and the British Parliament.

Specific documents which may be useful

• Country reports on human rights practices DOC-US Y 4.IN 8/16-15:
  An annual report submitted by the State Department to the Congress which details the record of a given nation's respect for human rights, from the perspective of the US government. For other perspectives (but not necessarily covering all countries, see the reports of Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch (search the library catalog using the organization name as the author)
• Yearbook of the United Nations DOCS REF. JX 1977 .A37 Y4
  May contain good background information on issues and events that the UN dealt wit in a given year.
• Guide to Human Rights Research DOCS REF. K3236 .T63 1994
  A useful tool for finding additional sources of information, both governmental and non-governmental.

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