Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations

Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations
Name	Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations
Abbreviation	SHAFR
Formation	1967
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	United States
Leader title	President

Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations is a professional association devoted to the study of United States foreign policy and American diplomacy from colonial times to the present. It serves historians, archivists, and educators who research topics ranging from the American Revolution and the War of 1812 through the Spanish–American War, the First World War, the Second World War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and the post-9/11 era. The organization maintains connections with archival repositories such as the National Archives and Records Administration, scholarly presses including the Oxford University Press and the Cambridge University Press, and funding bodies like the National Endowment for the Humanities.

History and founding

SHAFR was founded in 1967 by historians active in debates sparked by scholarship on the Cold War, the Marshall Plan, and the Truman Doctrine, with roots in networks assembled around journals such as the Journal of American History and conferences at institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and Columbia University. Early participants included scholars engaged with subjects such as the Monroe Doctrine, the Open Door Policy, the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, and figures like Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and John F. Kennedy. The society grew amid methodological shifts influenced by work on the Diplomatic History of the American Revolution, studies of the Spanish Civil War's international dimensions, and reevaluations prompted by access to records from the State Department and foreign archives in Moscow, Beijing, London, and Paris.

Mission and activities

The society's stated mission emphasizes fostering research on diplomatic episodes including the Treaty of Paris (1783), the Louisiana Purchase, the Treaty of Versailles (1919), and the Yalta Conference, promoting pedagogical initiatives for courses on the Foreign Policy of the United States, and supporting archival preservation at repositories like the Library of Congress and the Harvard University Archives. It sponsors seminars on topics such as the Good Neighbor Policy, Cold War détente, the Nixon Shock, and the Iranian Revolution, organizes workshops on primary sources from collections like the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, and collaborates with organizations such as the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians. The society advances public history projects involving sites like Mount Vernon and the National World War II Museum.

Publications and journals

SHAFR publishes a major peer-reviewed journal, which presents research on events from the American Civil War's international implications to contemporary analyses of the War on Terror and the Iraq War. Its newsletters and monograph series feature essays on diplomatic episodes including the Zimmermann Telegram, the Sinking of the Lusitania, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and negotiations such as the Camp David Accords. The society's publications engage with book-length studies from presses like the University of Chicago Press, Princeton University Press, Yale University Press, and the Rutgers University Press, and review works on biographies of figures such as Henry Kissinger, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Cordell Hull, and William Seward.

Conferences and awards

SHAFR convenes annual conferences that host panels on subjects ranging from the Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny to analyses of the Sykes–Picot Agreement and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, attracting presenters who work on regions including Latin America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, and Africa. It administers awards recognizing scholarship on topics like the Philippine–American War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Korean War, and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, and grants prizes named in honor of scholars associated with institutions such as Georgetown University, the University of Michigan, and the Columbia University history department. Panels have featured archival revelations from collections like the Hoover Institution Archives and the Kennedy Library.

Membership and governance

Membership draws scholars, archivists, graduate students, and independent researchers whose work treats topics from the Embargo Act of 1807 to the Zunghar campaigns and biographies of diplomats posted to capitals like Tokyo, Berlin, Moscow, and Beijing. Governance is carried out by an elected council, officers including a president and vice-presidents, and committees overseeing the program committee, publications committee, and awards committee, with administrative support often coordinated through university presses or history departments at institutions such as Georgetown University, George Washington University, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Impact and criticisms

The society has influenced the field through fostering scholarship on diplomatic topics like the Algerian War, Decolonization of Africa, NATO expansion, and European integration, and by promoting interdisciplinary dialogue with specialists in archives at the British Library and research centers like the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Criticisms have included debates over historiographical balance between traditional diplomatic narratives focused on figures such as James G. Blaine and William Jennings Bryan and newer approaches emphasizing transnational perspectives inspired by work on the Atlantic World and the Pacific Basin, calls for greater inclusion of scholars researching Indigenous diplomacy related to treaties like Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), and discussions about accessibility of archives in locales such as Havana, Tehran, and Beijing.

Category:Historical societies of the United States