A
Pathfinder
3. Encyclopedias, Atlas,
Dictionaries
4. Books of Historical
Importance
Introduction 
This pathfinder is intended to guide a college student through
research on the topic of US Foreign Policy in relation to the Middle Eastern
region. This pathfinder should help a
student take an in depth look at our foreign policies, the history of the two
regions, and the reactions people in both regions to our policies. This topic is important because American foreign policy with other nations,
especially those policies directly associated with the
When browsing the library collection for
additional information, there are certain call numbers that will likely have
what you are looking for.
|
Call
Number |
General
Subject |
|
327.7 |
International
Relations |
|
297 |
Islam |
|
303 |
Terrorism |
|
956 |
Middle
East |
Encyclopedias,
Atlas, and Dictionaries
Encyclopedias and dictionaries are great
quick references. They can also
serve as a great starting point for initial research. An atlas is also a good tool for this
topic because it will give you a visual aid to reference where different
Middle Eastern countries are in relation to each other.
·
Axelrod, A. (2007). Political
history of America’s wars. Washington,
DC: CQ Press. (R355.00973)
The only US and Middle Eastern involvement in
this book occur after 1990, being Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi
Freedom, and the War on Terror. Axelrod
provides insight into the political reason for involvement in these operations.
·
Axelrod, A. & Phillips, C. (2006). Encyclopedia
of historical treaties and alliances (2nd ed). New York: Facts on File, (v. 1 & 2).
(R341.3)
This source list a vast majority of the major
historical treaties made in world history.
Among them are those concerning the United States and other Middle
Eastern countries. This will provide
factually information about the foreign policy behaviors of both regions. This source is good if you know the name of
the treaty you are looking for.
·
Calvert, P., Curtis, T, Harper, F.J., et.al. (2002). Treaties
and alliances of the world (7th
ed.). London: John Harper
Publishing. (R341.026)
This resource divides the treaties and
alliances up chronologically. This is
useful if you are trying to find out major political happenings of a certain
era, but are unfamiliar with the names.
·
Clements, F.A. (2001). Historical dictionary of Arab and Islamic
organizations (no. 19). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press Inc.
(R909.0974927)
Knowing the names of the various Arab and
Islamic organizations is very handy, especially since they are the targets of
some of our military operations, or they serve as key allies in the
region. The dictionary will serve useful
for keeping all of these groups strait.
·
DeRouen, K. & Heo, U.
(Eds.). (2005). Defense
and security (v. 1 & 2). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC CLIO.
(R355.033).
This source provides insight into the laws
and policies set up by the United States as a means to protect and defend.
·
Esposito, J.L. (Ed.).
(1995). The Oxford encyclopedia of the modern Islamic world . New York: Oxford University Press. (R909.897671)
In order to understand US foreign policy
towards the Middle East, it is necessary to understand the Middle East. This encyclopedia provides some solid information
about the Middle East that is not clouded with myth or criticism.
·
Hacht, A.M., & Hayes, D.D. (Eds.). (2008). Gale
encyclopedia of U.S. history: war (v. 2).
Detroit: Gale. (R355.00973)
Volume II covers the US war involvement from
1930-present.
·
Kohn, G.C. (Ed.).
(2007). Dictionary of wars (3rd
ed., v. 1-2). New York, NY: Facts on
File. (R355.0203)
This is a quick reference of all wars around
the world in modern time. It lists the
countries as the access, and the wars the country was involved in are described
in the entry.
·
Kurian, G.T. (Ed.).
(2007). Encyclopedia of the world’s nations and cultures. New York: Facts on File. (R903)
The source combines information about
politics, economies, and cultures. It
serves as a great reference for juxtaposing US culture to that of Middle
Eastern countries.
·
Worldbook. (2006). The
Worldbook atlas. Chicago: Worldbook
Inc., (p. 2-3, 30-31, 58). (Reference desk)
This world atlas will provide you will both
physical and political maps. They will
serve as a great resource for understanding wars and territorial disputes.
Books of Historical
Importance
In
order to understand the current policies made by the United States in relation
to the Middle East or organizations that occupy this territory, an
understanding of the history between the two regions is necessary. The following texts analyze the history of
these two regions. They are not quick
reference guides, but none the less are supported with a great deal of
research.
·
Field, M.
(1994). Inside the Arab world.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
(909.0974927)
From the sleeve: “precious oil and export markets, wars
in Lebanon and the Persian Gulf, peace talks at the White House, terrorists
eruptions: more now than ever, Arab affairs are the West’s affairs”.
·
Freeman-Grenville, G.S.P. & Munro-Hay,
S. (2006). Islam:
an illustrated history. New York,
NY: Continuum. (909.09767)
This book examines Islam from its creation during the
time of Muhammad until the present. It
serves as a good key to understand the ties between Islamic culture and
politics in the Middle East.
·
Jennings, P. & Brewster, T. (1998).
The century. New York, NY:
Doubleday, (Ch. 7). (909.82)
This book by the World’ New’s Peter Jennings, highlights
the major events of the twentieth century.
Of key interest for this topic is Ch. 7, which involves the creation of
the state of Israel.
These
government publications offer raw information on the stance of the United
States on certain issues. There are no
personal opinions or interpretations of events found in these documents. Rather most articles draw from these
documents. These documents are very
detailed and could be considered difficult reading.
·
Keefer, E.C. & Qaimmanqmi, L.W. (Eds.).
(2008). Foreign relations of the United States: 1969-1976: Middle East region
and the Arabian peninsula (v.
XXIV). Washington,
DC: US Government Printing Office. (S1.1:969-761/v.24)
This is the most recent collection of information made
public by the US Department of State.
·
National Commission on Terrorist
Attacks. (2004). The
9/11 commission report: the final report of national commission on terrorist
attacks upon the United States.
Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. (S1.154/4:H)
This is the official report identifying all details and
the responces to be taken by the United States in response to terrorist attacks
made upon it by organizations housed in the Middle East.
·
Special Inspector General. (2006).
Hard lessons: the Iraqi
reconstruction experience.
Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. (S1.154/2:H21)
This book offers information about the results and
lessons learned by the US Government from our military involvement in
Iraq. This is a useful tool to see the
implications and results that generate from our foreign policy.
Journal
articles provide scholarly articles and information on scholarly developments
in a particular field, in our case foreign and international affairs. Having scholarly interpretations of
current developments regarding policy as to better understand their
implications.
·
Dunne, M. (2008). The American system: US foreign and domestic
politics since the second World War. International Affairs, v. 84, no. 6,
p.1250-1270).
This article discusses the affects domestic and foreign
pressures have on US policy making.
·
Dunne, M. (2008). The greater Middle East and the Cold War: US
foreign policy under Eisenhower and Kennedy.
International Affairs, v. 84,
no. 6, p. 1245-1250)
A look at the policies of Eisenhower and Kennedy in the
Middle East during the Cold War, which was a developmental period for the
region. Looking at historical
policy will provide you with more understanding of Middle
Eastern citizens feelings towards the United States.
·
Kupchan, C. (2007).
Europe and America in the Middle East.
International Affairs, v.106,
no.698, p. 106-137.
This article focuses
on the effects the continued presence of American and Europeans presence has on
the region. It also focuses well on the
reactions
Middle
Eastern towards this occupation.
·
Layne, C. (2009). America’s Middle East grand strategy after
Iraq: the moment for offshore balancing has arrived. Review
of International Studies, v. 35, n.1, p. 5-25.
An argument about the how the military policies enacted
by the United States are fueling terrorism in more than ever.
·
Long, M. (2009). Ribat, Al Qaida, and the challenge for US
foreign policy. The Middle East Journal, v.
63, no.1, p. 31-47.
Discusses the implications the actions of Al Qaida has on
US foreign policy
Issues
and current events having to do with the Middle East and often US involvement
within the region are spread across periodicals constantly. There
seems
to never be a lack of information about US foreign policy in regards to the
Middle East. Shown below are the most
noteworthy of the periodical sources that
frequently publish stories on this topic.
Many periodicals are touching on this topic, because after all were are
spending a
great
deal of money in the Middle East, people want to know why.
·
(1843). The
Economist. The Economist Newspaper
Limited.
For website: “An authoritative weekly newspaper focusing
on international politics and business news and opinion.”
·
Hoge, J. (2009). Foreign
Affairs. New York: Council on
Foreign Relations, Inc.
This is a bi-monthly publication with a lot of editorials
and book reviews.
·
Naim, M.
(1970). Foreign Policy. New York:
National Affairs Inc.
This is a bi-monthly magazine about global politics,
ideas, and economics.
·
New
York Times. New York: New
York Times Co.
The NY Times is thought to be the US’ most prominent and
reliable newspapers. It has a
longstanding history as a credible news source and is published daily.
Online
databases provide the user access to millions of full text scholarly articles,
periodicals, and encyclopedias. The user
is provided with a wealth of fast information useful because this information
may not be available in print at the library.
St. Petersburg Main Branch Library does not offer access to many online
databases, so the ones listed below are those with the greatest amount of information available
and easiest to conduct a search on.
·
Facts.com
Facts.com provides access to US and world news coverage
from 1940 forward.
·
First Search
First Search offers access to millions of full text
articles. This database is for general
reference purposes, however world news is something commonly written about so
articles for this topic should not be hard to find.
·
Infotrac Onefile – Infortrac
This database is updated daily with news and magazine
articles in full text. Most articles are
pulled from major publications like the NY Times, Washington Post, Foreign
Affairs, and the Economist (note these are examples, not and exhausted
list). A benefit of this database is
that many of the articles include images.
·
Newsbank
Newsbank offers downloadable full text articles. This database is slightly different from the
others because it not only pulls in national news, it includes state and local
publications.
The
world wide web holds a wealth of
information. However, it is difficult to
distinguish what information is credible.
The following site very useful when
for
information on international relations and foreign affairs.
·
(2009).
CIA World Factbook. Retrieved
April 23, 2009 from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
World Factbook provides a profile of every country in the
world. With annual information updates.
·
(2009).
USA.gov Retrieved April 23, 2009
from http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Defense.shtml
This site is managed and produced by the US
government. For this page you can link
into pages with key information and foreign affairs, international trade,
and international organizations.
·
(2009). US Department of State: Policy. Retrieved April 23, 2009 from http://www.state.gov/www/policy.html
The
US Department of State’s Policy site is an electronic archive of policy records
up until January 2001.
·
(2009).
Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Retreived April 23, 2009 from http://www.fpri.org/
The Foreign Policy Research Institute is think tank
dedicated to advanced research on international affairs.
This pathfinder was created by Kimberleigh Swift
April 2009
LIS 6603 Dr. Slone