What I Learned About Governments by Reading Classified Documents

Donald Trump’s illegal retention of classified U.S. government records reminded me that I have been reading these kinds of sensitive official files after their declassification―and learning from them―for decades.

The reason is that I am a scholar of international history and, in this connection, have drawn upon such material in my research.  Governments keep secrets, and to understand the full story of their behavior, it is often necessary to dig into the documentary evidence.

When I first read more