Library Guides: Middle East Politics Library Guide: Digital Archives

Intro

A list of digital primary source collections relating to Middle East Politics.

Digital National Security Archive

The National Security Archive, a nongovernmental entity, curates digital collections of declassified government documents covering U.S. policy toward critical world events from 1945 to the present. Each collection is assembled by foreign policy experts and features chronologies, glossaries, bibliographies, and scholarly overviews.

You can either search all collections in the Digital National Security Archive (DNSA), or search the sub-collections related to the Middle East below. Given the variety of document types in these databases, use the filters in the left-hand column to limit your search to the kinds of materials you're interested in.

The Arab Spring

North Africa & the Middle East 2011 (Archive-It)-2013
This digital collection documents the events in Northern Africa and the Middle East starting in January 2011. Content includes blogs, social media and news sites about Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and other countries. Countries separated by site groups (scroll down the page to see all of them). Archived content is in Arabic, English, and French.
Egypt Politics and Revolution
A web archive collected by American University in Cairo. provides access to web content related to the contemporary Egyptian political scene, documenting political developments and ideologies, leading players, and various forms of expression. A major focus (and the inception point for the collection) is the January 25, 2011 revolution and its aftermath, from the time of the initial 18 Days of demonstrations at Cairo’s Tahrir Square to subsequent periods of protest and successive changes in government and presidential leadership, through 2013 and 2014.
University on the Square: Documenting Egypt's 21st Century Revolution
Features oral histories, photographs, video recordings, and visual art that document the January 25th Revolution. The digital collection preserves the history of the 18 Days in Egypt and beyond by collecting content from activists, participants, and observers from the American University in Cairo as well as members of the larger Egyptian and global communities.
Tahrir Documents
Tahrir Documents is an ongoing effort to archive and translate activist papers from the 2011 Egyptian uprising and its aftermath. Materials were collected from demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and published in complete English translation alongside scans of the original documents. The project is not affiliated with any political organization, Egyptian or otherwise. The website https://www.tahrirdocuments.org/ is not working; use this link to access old versions of the website via the Wayback Machine.
Jasmine Revolution - Tunisia 2011
Consists of websites (news, blogs, social media) documenting the revolution in Tunisia in 2011.
Pictures: Tunisia's Uprising
Photograph collection from Al Jazeera.

Historical Newspapers

These databases include digitized newspapers published in the Middle East & North Africa as well as former colonial powers in the region and the U.S. For a more complete list of international and U.S. historical newspaper databases, see the News and Newspapers Library Guide.

Access World News - Historical and Current This link opens in a new window
A vast collection of more than 16,000 U.S. and global news sources in English, Spanish, French, and many other world languages. This one-stop database allows you to search all Newsbank current and historical news sources that Tulane subscribes to, including Access World News, America's Historical Newspapers, World Newspaper Archive, Black Life in America, Hispanic Life in America, and the Times-Picayune collection. Find diverse global perspectives on topics related to business, communications, economics, education, health, journalism, marketing, politics, and more from a variety of current and retrospective news media.
Jerusalem Post (1932-2008) This link opens in a new window
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine as The Palestine Post. This database offers full page and article images with searchable full text of every available issue from the newspaper's founding in 1932 through 2008.

Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers (Global Press Archive)
Digitized 20th-century newspapers from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Most titles are Arabic-language, with some in French (Algeria, Morocco) and English (Iraq, Morocco).

Le Monde (1944-2000) This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Le Monde empowers researchers to digitally travel back through decades to become eyewitnesses to history. Written in the French language and covering leading issues and events, like World War II and the Fifth Republic, to French, European and international politics, society and business, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Le Monde reveals the day-to-day news coverage valued by researchers. Tulane's coverage is from 1944-2000.
New York Times (Proquest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
This database offers full page and article image scans of The New York Times with searchable full text of every available issue from 1851 to 2020. Select "Browse Issues" from the menu to peruse content by date.
Washington Post (Proquest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
This database offers full page and article image scans with searchable full text of every available issue of The Washington Post from 1877 to 2008. Select "Browse Issues" from the menu to peruse content by date.

U.S. National Archives

European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: French Colonialism in Africa: From Algeria to Madagascar, 1910-1930 (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window
This collection comprises correspondence, studies and reports, cables, maps, and other kinds of documents related to U.S. consular activities. U.S. Consulates were listening posts reporting on the activities of the French colonial government and the activities of the native peoples. Highlights include the beginning of an anti-colonial movement and problems along the Moroccan-Algerian border.
King and People in Morocco, 1950-1959: U.S. State Department Records on the Internal Affairs of Morocco (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window
This collection contains digitized records of the Department of State relating to Morocco's internal affairs from 1950 to 1959, documenting the lead-up to independence from France (1956) and the transition to constitutional monarchy.
Democracy in Turkey, 1950-1959: Records of the U.S. State Department Classified Files (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window
This collection of State Department documents provides access to unique primary source materials on the political, economic and social development of Turkey during a period of democratization in the 1950s.

U.K. National Archives

Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, 1971-1981 This link opens in a new window
This collection addresses the policies, economies, political relationships and significant events of major Middle East powers during regional conflicts such as the Arab-Israeli War, the Lebanese Civil War and the Iranian Revolution. Also examined in detail are the military interventions and peace negotiations carried out by regional and foreign powers like the United States and Russia.
Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969 This link opens in a new window
British government Confidential Print files, issued by the Foreign and Colonial Offices, cover the Middle East from Egypt to Afghanistan for the period from 1839-1969.
Middle East Online: Iraq, 1914-1974 (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window
Contains original source material from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers. Iraq 1914-1974 offers the widest range of original source material from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers from the Anglo-Indian landing in Basra in 1914 through the British Mandate in Iraq of 1920-32 to the rise of Saddam Hussein in 1974.
Middle East Online: Arab-Israeli Relations, 1917-1970 (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window
Offers original source material from the British Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers, from the 1917 Balfour Declaration through the Black September war of 1970-1971.

Border Studies

Border and Migration Studies Online This link opens in a new window
Border and Migration Studies Online is a collection that explores and provides primary sources, scholarly studies, images, and video on more than thirty key worldwide border areas, including the borders of Turkey (1870s-1970s) and Israel's borders with Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria (1900-1969).