Books and Databases for International Relations
The following are books, websites, and databases on topics relating to international relations and foreign policy.
- U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets This link opens in a new windowThe lastest information on relations and diplomatic standings with world nations provided by the U.S. State Department.
- Sage Data [formerly Data Planet] This link opens in a new windowContains more than 35 billion data points from 4.9 billion datasets sourced from more than 70 source organizations. There are billions of charts, maps, views, rankings, time series and tables available for use.
- Foreign Policy Research InstituteNonpartisan policy analysis on national security and U.S. foreign policy.
- United States Institute of PeaceNonpartisan government partner focused on conflict resolution.
Essentials of International Relations by Call Number: On Reserve under SkollISBN: 9780393643275Publication Date: 2018
American Foreign Policy by ISBN: 9781538173756Publication Date: 2023Designed to provide the historical and institutional context for the foreign policy process.
The Globalization Paradox by Call Number: On reserve in the library under Skoll.ISBN: 9780393341287Publication Date: 2012Rodrik's case for a customizable globalization supported by a light frame of international rules shows the way to a balanced prosperity as we confront today's global challenges in trade, finance, and labor markets.
Country Reports and World Data
The following resources provide overviews of countries, including history, culture, economic, trade data, and more.
- CIA World Factbook This link opens in a new windowProvides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
- CountryWatch This link opens in a new windowComprehensive and regularly updated reports on every country.
- Global Road Warrior This link opens in a new windowA country-by-country resource for learning about culture, customs, history, and language worldwide. Global Road Warrior consists of 175 Country Guides of 119 topics each.
- Correlates of WarProvides quantitative data in international relations.
- Uppsala Conflict Data ProgramProvides data and analysis on conflicts all over the world.
Scholarly Journals
The following is a short list of some of the top journals the library has access to. We have thousands of journals in our databases, you can search by journal title or a topic using our Journals by Title search. *Note, you may need to login using your CSUM credentials in order to access these journals. You can browse by issue or search within the publication.
- Naval War College ReviewWe have this publication online and also in print in the library.
Think Tanks
What are Think Tanks?
Think Tanks are a great place to look for information on various political and economic issues. They can provide non-partisan perspectives, and solutions to big issues, and hold other organizations accountable. They are often non-profit research organizations, or NGO (non-governmental organizations), providing public policy analysis and research. Writing about think tanks and using their research: A cautionary tip sheet, provides a great overview of what think tanks are and how to evaluate them.
How to Find Them
- Penn Libraries has a comprehensive list of Public Policy Research Think Tanks, including U.S. and Worldwide. Below are a few favorites:
- Georgetown University Library also has an online guide on International Relations and Foreign Policy, including policy databases and think tank directories.
- You also simply use Google searching "Foreign Policy think tanks."
How to Evaluate Think Tanks
There is still a strong need to evaluate these resources and be aware of fake organizations or conflicts of interests for funding or donations. Consider the following when you looking at Think Tanks and Watchdog organizations:
- Review the "About Us" page, can you identify the following:
- Do they have a mission or goals statement, or history of the organization?
- Who are the contributors, authors, board of trustees? What are their credentials? What makes them an expert? Google them!
- Do they have information about their standards, research methods, etc.?
- Look at a few of the articles, reports or commentary.
- What kind of topics do they cover?
- How do they collect data or conduct their research?
- Can you identify any bias?
- What do other people say about this organization?
- Are they connected with government agencies, political parties or organizations that give you pause?
- Where do they fall on this Global Go To Think Tank Index?