Resolved: That the United States federal government should establish a foreign policy substantially increasing its support of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.

Among the topics being debated are international relations theory (multilateralism v. unilateralism), humanitarian v. military intervention, United Nations costs and effectiveness, roles for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and international crises within the past decade: Bosnia, Iraq, Kosovo, Rwanda, Somalia, and the Sudan.

Debate themes require an analysis of two or more positions on any given issue. Within the federal government this can be achieved by comparing Presidential administrations or locating debates within Congress. Non-federal sources for similar comparisons include think tanks, political parties, international organizations, foreign governments, journal articles and books on a particular aspect of the topic.

Search Engines

First.Gov

Gateway web site to the federal and state governments with separate menus for citizens, business, federal employees and other governments. The most efficient way to locate federal reports and press releases from Congressional committees or the Defense Department is the Advanced Search box in the upper righthand corner. For example, United Nations peacekeeping as an exact phrase, must include NATO, and mil in URL yields books and articles from U.S. military academies.

Catalog of Government Publications

Search engine for most federal publications in print, microform or electronic format since 1994. Search results provide links to the full text on the web if available and to libraries which should own the publication.

Wayback Machine

Collaborative effort between the private sector, Library of Congress, and Smithsonian Institute to archive web pages since 1996. This is especially important for identifying information on web sites which are no longer available due to a change in agency or Congressional committee leadership. You can only search by the original URL. For example, search http://www.senate.gov/~foreign for 2001 press releases on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee web site that were deleted when the committee changed chairmen in 2003.

International Organizations and Peacekeeping

United Nations

United States Mission to the United Nations
Press releases, statements, and speeches before United Nations bodies since 1998 on U.S. policy. United Nations peacekeeping operations are covered under in the Policy Issues section under Political and Security Affairs, UN Reform, and UN Administration and Budget. Fact Sheets explain the United States position on the International Criminal Court.

State Department Annual Reports to Congress on the United Nations

U.S. Participation in the United Nations summarizes issues handled by the United Nations since 1995, including political/security affairs and U.N. reform. Voting Practices in the United Nations lists individual resolutions in the General Assembly and Security since 1997 with background information, the U.S. position, and final vote tables. Additional tables and graphs analyze voting blocks and the votes of individual countries relative to the United States.

United States Contributions to International Organizations (State Department)

Annual report of U.S. assessments paid to international organizations, including individual U.N. peacekeeping missions. Only 1996-98 were placed on the web. However, the data can be updated by using the Federal Budget. Browse the State Department in the Appendix or conduct a keyword search: "United Nations peacekeeping"

United Nations and Peacekeeping: Issues for Congress (Congressional Research Service)

Analyzes the personnel and financial costs of UN Peacekeeping Operations since 1988. Expresses concern for placing U.S. personnel under foreign military control. Notes increased UN role in maintaining ceasefires, supervising elections, and humanitarian operations. Dated May 2003.

Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations (Official UN Web Site)

Also known as the "Brahimi Report." Among the panel's recommendations are a robust military posture, rapid deployment, use of civilian police and more consistent central funding. Dated 2000.

United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (Official UN Web Site)

Background, personnel, costs, and authorizing resolutions for each of its current and former missions dating back to 1948. Monthly figures on overall troop contributions by country since 2000. Rwanda and Somalia are among its past missions. It currently has a mission to Kosovo. Chapters 6-8 of the United Nations Charter deal with peacekeeping activities.

United Nations (Official UN Web Site)

This very rich web site provides access to General Assembly and Security Council resolutions through the Main Bodies link on its web page and to various peacekeeping organizations through its Issues on the UN Agenda link. The search engine is best for a specific topic, such as peacekeeping in the Sudan. UNBISNET indexes speeches by speaker, country represented and subject (e.g. United States as speaker and Somalia as subject) before the General Assembly and Security Council since 1983 and provides the full text.

The United Nations Charter describes the mission, organization and peacekeeping activities of the organization. Relief Web describes UN efforts at humanitarian relief, including the protection of civilians in armed conflicts.

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North Atlantic Treaty Organization

United States Mission to NATO

Current press releases on national security issues and America's war against terrorism.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Organization provides mutual security for 26 North Atlantic countries. Web site includes historical documents, defense expenditures of member countries, and numerous mission reports, including training of native Iraqi troops. NATO Handbook Chapter 12 describes the role of integrated military forces.

Operation Joint Endeavor, or IFOR, was a NATO military operation in Bosnia, 1995/96. It had been mandated by the UN. SFOR is primarily a peacekeeping operation started in Bosnia in 1996. Operation Allied Force was its military operation in Kosovo, March/June 1999. Its peacekeeping operation in Kosovo has two web sites: Operation Joint Guardian, June-December 1999, and Kosovo Force (KFOR) beginning 2000.

North Atlantic Charter

This treaty commits the European and North American countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean to mutual defense in line with the principles of the United Nations Charter. Signed on April 4, 1949.

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

The CSCE is the U.S. commission to the OSCE. It is comprised primarily of Congressmen and Senators with a few members of the Executive Branch. Its web site includes research reports, primarily on human rights concerns in Eastern Europe, since 1996.

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Sets standards for military security, economic and environmental cooperation as well as human rights and humanitarian concerns. Members include Western and Eastern European countries, Asian countries formerly part of the Soviet Union, Canada and the United States. There are partner countries in the Mediterranean and East Asia. Web site has numerous reports on its missions to Eastern Europe, including Kosovo.

President and Foreign Policy

Comprehensive Sources

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 1993+ on web
Official compilation of Presidential statements, messages, remarks, and other material released by the White House Press Secretary. Searchable year-by-year. e.g. search 1994 for "united nations" and NATO for President Clinton's Global Policy Forum interview with CNN. Available on the web since 1993. Printed volumes in federal depository libraries date back to 1965.

Public Papers of the Presidents 1992+ on web

Annual compilation of Presidential statements and documents, both searchable and browsable. Use Weekly Compilation above for material newer than three years. The printed volumes, available in federal depository libraries, cover 1929-32 and 1945 to present. Some have been digitized by the presidential libraries (see below).

President Bush

White House
Executive orders, proclamations, nominations, radio addresses and press releases for the current president. Separate web pages for the administration's key proposals (e.g. Iraq, homeland security, education). May include special research reports.

The White House web page on Iraq features President George W. Bush's speeches since February 16, 2001, including his September 2002 speech before the United Nations. While the remaining information is current, other sections of the White House site include: Iraq: A Decade of Deception and Defiance (September 21, 2002) and the President's 2003 State of the Union Message.

National Security Strategy of the United States (President Bush)

Presented in 2002, this document outlines U.S. policy toward terrorism, including pre-emptive strikes.

President Clinton

White House
Searchable version of five White House web snapshots taken 1995-2000. Search "united nations" and "peacekeeping."

Reforming Multilateral Peace Operations: Presidential Decision Directive 25

Summarizes President Clinton's decision to reform U.S. participation in UN peacekeeping missions and reduce the cost. He also issued a National Security Strategy in December 1999.

Past Presidents

Presidential Libraries (National Archives)
Links to Presidential libraries beginning with Herbert Hoover. The web sites for Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson have digitized much of their historic material.

Executive Branch Agencies and Foreign Policy

Agency for International Development

Independent U.S. government agency providing humanitarian assistance. Among its current projects are aid to Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sudan, and Rwanda.

Defense Department

Defenselink
Newsletter interface but the web site archives speeches, transcripts, and briefing slides of Pentagon officials since 1994. Comprehensive web pages with briefings, maps, and casualty reports are available for each conflict as it occurs. Related pages include Defend America (Iraq and Afghanistan), Operation Allied Force (Kosovo), and Operation Joint Force (Bosnia)

Additional Department of Defense Web Sites

Alphabetic listing of hundreds of DOD web sites. You can also used an Advanced Search in Firstgov to specify your topic appear in a .mil web site.

National Security Council

National Security Council (current)
Speeches of the National Security Adviser to the President, links to key national security strategy documents, and a history of the National Security Council since 1947.

National Security Council (Clinton).

Speeches by the National Security staff and a list (not full text) of all presidential national security directives since Truman. Major policy documents include Clinton's 1994 Policy on Reforming Multilateral Peace Operations and on infrastructure protection.

State Department

State Department
The current web site is divided into sections on the department as a whole, countries, international topics, services, briefings, and travel. A button at the top accesses the web site archive for the Clinton Administration.

Separate web pages on the United Nations, NATO, and security affairs are listed in the International Topics section. Each consolidates public statements and policy reports in their respective areas. The Countries and Regions section consolidates background reports, statistics, and maps with press statements about policy toward the area.

The State Department's web site on Iraq includes the full text of speeches by departmental personnel and the President since September 2002, reports on Iraq's WMD program, background studies, and links to information on Iraqi reconstruction.

Separate pages are also available for Bosnia and Kosovo

Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers

Premier historical record of U.S. foreign policy with full text or abstracts of diplomatic correspondence. First volume dated 1861. Selected current volumes on the web from the Truman through Nixon administrations. For printed copies of volumes on the the web, search the Catalog of Government Publications for the title and check which libraries own it by state or area code.

World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers (State Department)

Military expenditures, armed forces, GNP, and population for 172 countries, 1989-1999. The 1996 issue dates the information back to 1985.

Congress and Foreign Policy

The Senate ratifies treaties and ambassadorial appointments. Congress as a whole has the power to declare war and to appropriate funds for national defense and foreign aid. The diverse opinions expressed by Members of Congress make Congressional publications a prime source for alternative viewpoints.

Types of Documents

Bills - Proposed legislation
Hearings - Testimony to committees by the Executive Branch, experts and lobbyists
Committee Prints - Research reports for committee members
Reports - Recommendations by committees that a bill should be passed into law
Documents - Official messages from the President to Congress
Debates - Floor debates and votes after a bill has passed the committee process
Laws - Legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President
The most valuable publications for the high school topic are committee hearings and floor debates. Bills provide an alternative access point for floor debates while Reports may provide insight on the committee's legislative intent.

Bills

THOMAS
Use Bill Summary and Status to search for bills by any combination of keyword, sponsor, committee, stage of legislative process, and date. Search results provide last stage of legislative process, making it easier to determine which bills passed into law or were more significant than others.

Click on the chosen bill number for a copy of the full text of the bill or its related reports. Use the Bill Status option to find debates and votes about the bill in the Congressional Record.

EXAMPLE

1. Choose Legislation/Bill Summary and Status
2. Choose 107th Congress
3. Word/Phrase: Iraq and Stage in Legislative Process: Public Law/All Public Laws
4. Search results show many bills authorizing the use of force but the main bill is H.J.Res. 114
5. Click on H.J.Res. 114
6. Page down to Bill Status and click
7. Note the references to debates in the Congressional Record

Hearings

Congressional committee hearings contain the testimony of experts, lobbyists, and members of the Executive Branch on proposed legislation, appropriations, oversight of executive agencies, and independent investigations. The printed hearings contain prepared testimony by the witnesses, question-and-answer testimony, and documents submitted to the committee, such as spreadsheets, reports, and newspaper articles.

Committees determine whether the full text of their hearings will be published on the web. GPO Access indexes the full text of hearings released by committees since the 105th Congress, 1997. Example: Senate hearings, 107th Congress, "united nations peacekeeping"

The full text of most hearings is available in paper or microfiche at many federal depository libraries located across the country. The Catalog of Government Publications indexes all hearings published since 1994 by committee and keywords in the title. Records provide links to the full text on the web or a list of libraries which should own the paper or fiche versions. Example: "united nations peacekeeping" AND congress

Prepared Statements usually appear on the web pages of witnesses and in commercial sources. Example from FirstGov: terrorism and testimony and CIA.

Web pages of individual Congressional committees vary in content. Most maintain the prepared statements of witnesses for the service period of the current chairperson. A full list of committees appear on the House and Senate web sites.

Key Congressional committees for UN peacekeeping reforms:
• Senate Committee on Appropriations
  
  The subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary, Defense, and Foreign Operations review the budgets of U.S. foreign policy. Their web pages contain links to prepared statements for the current Congress. Published appropriations hearings beginning with FY 1998 are available through GPO Access

  Senate Committee on Armed Services
  

  Oversees military operations. Prepared Statements of its witnesses are available on its web site beginning 1999 but are not indexed. Identify web versions using FirstGov (e.g. Senate Armed Services Iraq as all words) and printed versions through the Catalog of Government Publications

  Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
  

  Provides advice and consent on U.S. treaties and ambassadorial appointments. Oversees relations with individual countries and international agencies. Web site has prepared statements of selected witnesses for the current Congress only. The full text of hearings are available online since 1997 through GPO Access. Among them hearings on Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, the Sudan, NATO enlargement and UN reform.

  House Committee on Appropriations
  

  The House Appropriations Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary, Defense, and Foreign Operations review the budgets of U.S. foreign policy. Their web pages link to a few prepared statements for the current Congress. Published appropriations hearings beginning with FY 1998 are available through GPO Access

  House Committee on Armed Services
  

  Oversees military operations and the war against terrorism. Prepared Statements of selected witnesses are available on its web site beginning 1997 but are not indexed. Identify web versions of additional material using FirstGov (e.g. House Armed Services NATO as all words) and printed versions through the Catalog of Government Publications

  House Committee on International Relations
  

  Full text of hearings since 2001 available through the committee web site on Iraq, Sudan, and terrorism. GPO Access carries the committee's 2000 hearings on UN peacekeeping reforms. For earlier years, check the Catalog of Government Publications.

Reports

House and Senate Reports (GPO Access)
These are primarily committee recommendations on pending legislation. They may also provide minority viewpoints and legal intent. The Government Printing Office version is the archival set. You can search the full text by keyword since the 104th Congress, 1995. Reports identified through a bill status search in THOMAS link to the GPO version of the bill.

Debates in Congressional Record

Congressional Record (GPO Access)
Full text of floor statements, debates, and roll call votes. The GPO version, archived since 1995, provides the most efficient means for accessing the full text when you only know the subject of the discussion (e.g. "united nations peacekeeping"). Floor debates identified through a bill status search in THOMAS link to the GPO version of the Record.

Congressional Research Agencies

General Accounting Office Reports to Congress

The General Accounting Offices issues short analyses of U.S. foreign and domestic policies from a financial standpoint. There are numerous reports on the cost of peacekeeping operations. All publications beginning October 1994 are available on the web in text and pdf format. Searchable by any combination of full text, subject category, and date, e.g. "united nations peacekeeping" in full text and "international affairs" as topic.

Congressional Research Service Reports

The Congressional Research Service directly serves Members of Congress by providing them with brief, non-partisan reports. The public usually obtains these reports by contracting their Senators or Representatives. However, several web sites are beginning to capture them. The State Department provides the full text of CRS reports on foreign relations since 1999. Among them: United Nations and Peacekeeping: Issues for Congress. The Army War College and Federation of American Scientists collect CRS reports on the military, intelligence, and security issues.