42 JULY-AUGUST 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL James Graham Wilson is a supervisory historian in the Office of the Historian at the Department of State, where he has compiled 10 volumes in the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series. He is also the author of America’s Cold Warrior: Paul Nitze and National Security from Roosevelt to Reagan (Cornell University Press, 2024) and The Triumph of Improvisation: Gorbachev’s Adaptability, Reagan’s Engagement, and the End of the Cold War (Cornell University Press, 2014). He received a BA from Vassar College in 2003 and a PhD from the University of Virginia in 2011. Think diplomacy is all handshakes and summits? Think again. Behind the scenes, historians at the State Department are uncovering and preserving the real story of U.S. foreign policy through the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, a remarkable effort in government transparency and historical documentation. Take a look inside one of the U.S. government’s oldest, largest, and most significant responsible transparency undertakings. BY LYNETTE EVANS-TIERNAN AND JAMES GRAHAM WILSON Lynette Evans-Tiernan is a public affairs officer at the U.S. Department of State, where she serves as strategic communications adviser in the Office of the Historian. Over a 20-year career, she has worked across Washington bureaus and diplomatic missions overseas on a broad range of regional and thematic foreign policy issues. Her expertise includes strategic communications, digital engagement, and global campaigns advancing U.S. foreign policy with diverse audiences. She received a BA from the University of Virginia in 2006 and an MA from The George Washington University in 2013. The Past Is Never Past: How State Historians Tell America’s Foreign Policy Story On September 30, 2025, the State Department’s Office of the Historian released the latest in this series, Volume XXXI, START I, 1989-1991, the second of two volumes on the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. “The past is never dead,” as William Faulkner famously put it. “It’s not even past.” As we commemorate America’s 250th birthday, nuclear arms have returned to the fore of U.S. national security and diplomacy—just as they were for the bicentennial in 1976. They pose difficult problems. Unlike 50 years ago, FOCUS ON THE U.S. IN THE WORLD AT 250
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