The collection includes uncut audio cassettes, video cassettes and transcripts of interviews, concerning events leading up to the Gulf War (1990-1991) such as the role of the United States in the liberation of Kuwait following its invasion by Iraq, 2 Aug 1990; US relations with the international community coalition which included Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Soviet Union; the role of the United Nations; and the background to decisions taken by the US government in response to the invasion and up until the ceasefire of 28 Feb 1991. It also contains related transcripts of US Congress proceedings, research files, news cuttings, video cassettes of the three episodes of the television documentary The Washington Version as broadcast in the UK, scripts for each episode, draft version of scripts and documentary, as well as uncut video cassette footage of television news reports, press conferences and addresses, contemporary to the conflict. The documentary was advertised as 'a personal history of the Gulf Crisis told by US Cabinet members, their deputies and key allies'. Those interviewed include James Addison Baker III, US Secretary of State, 1989-1992; Richard B (Dick) Cheney, US Secretary of Defense, 1989-1993; Robert Gates, Assistant to the US President and Deputy National Security Advisor, 1989-1991; Gen Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor, 1989-1993; James Danforth Quayle, US Vice President, 1989-1993; Stephen Joshua Solarz, Democrat member of US Congress, 1975-1993; Gen Colin Powell, Chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander in Chief; Thomas Stephen Foley, Democrat member of US Congress, 1965-1995, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, 1989-1995; Ambassador Thomas Reeve Pickering, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1989-1992; Lawrence S Eagleburger, Deputy Secretary of State, 1989-1992; Richard N Haass, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director, Near East & South Asian Affairs, National Security Council, 1989-1993; John Kelly, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, 1989-1991; Robert M Kimmitt, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, 1989-1991; Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater, Private Secretary to the British Prime Minister, 1984-1991; Dennis B Ross, Director, Policy Planning Staff, US Department of State, 1989-1992; H E Sheikh Saud Nasir Al-Sabah, Kuwait Ambassador to the US, 1981-present; Joseph Charles Wilson IV, Charge d'Affairs, US Embassy, Baghdad 1988-1991; Paul Dundes Wolfowitz, Under Secretary for Policy, US Department of Defense 1899-1993; Sergei Tarasenko, Policy Advisor to Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze 1985-1991; and Martin Indyk, Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy, 1984-1993.

Comprising copies of journals, maps, newspaper cuttings and supporting printed literature relating to politics, trade, international development and relations between nations in North Africa and the Middle East, 1959-1993; notably including personal papers and notes compiled by George Joffé for Menas (Middle East and North African Studies Press) Ltd, and in the course of his work as a journalist, principally correspondence with publishers, consultants and experts in the oil industry relating to legal action over disputed damages estimates, 1978-1986, papers on Project Profile Ltd, a consultancy company established in 1982; cuttings and typescript articles and lecture texts by Joffé mainly on Morocco and North Africa delivered to the African History seminar at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, and Institute of Commonwealth Studies, 1976-1977 (Ref: Joffé 1/1-3); research papers compiled for Menas, mainly correspondence with experts on the various arbitration and court proceedings between international oil companies and national governments with which Menas was involved, including on Iran, the Iranian oil industry, economy, borders and politics, 1966-1993, Libya and Malta and the 'Continental Shelf Case', 1983-1990, Saudi Arabia and Yemeni border issues, 1991, disputes concerning international water resources, 1982-1986, cost analysis, accounting standards and background articles on the Khemco and Phillips oil cases, 1985-1988, notes on Morocco including offprints, press cuttings, national economic statistics and statistics of neighbouring countries in North Africa, 1974-1988 (Ref: Joffé 2/1-8); typescript court reports, claimants' and respondents' submissions, evaluations, expert testimony and supporting evidence in a number of international disputes aired at the Iran-US Claims Tribunal, The Hague, Netherlands, and International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration, concerning several major international oil companies or local subsidiaries including Phillips Petroleum, Amoco, Mobil Oil, Arco, Gatoil, Lapco and Khemco in their claims against Iran, 1983-1989, the Saudi Arabia-Yemen boundary dispute, 1991-1992, Mobil Oil Libya v Libya, 1982-1986, Libya-Malta Continental Shelf Case with extracts from numerous Maltese parliamentary papers and Mediterranean geological studies, 1966-1983 (Ref: Joffé 3/1-14); Menas publications, notably on Iran, Libya, Morocco, international boundaries and water resources, 1979-1991 (Ref: Joffé 4); on the politics, economies and international relations of numerous North African or Middle Eastern countries and regions including Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Middle East, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and on various topics such as oil, Islam and the Salman Rushdie affair, 1980-1989 (Ref: Joffé 5/1-4); Economist Intelligence Unit publications, mainly Special Reports on countries, industries, trends and energy reviews, 1983-1993 (Ref: Joffé 6/1-3); copies of various journals and periodicals including International Affairs , 1980-1986, The Middle East Journal , 1980-1987, Third World Quarterly , 1981-1984, 1986-1987, Cedies informations , 1983-1987, Middle East Business Weekly , 1985-1990, Middle East Economic Survey , 1987-1989 (Ref: Joffé 7); statistical publications on various Middle East and African countries including Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, company reports, OPEC reports, 1959-1990 (Ref: Joffé 8/1-5); copies of maps, mainly topographical and geological, of Iran, [1950-1985] (Ref: Joffé 9); diverse bibliographies including on Afghanistan, uranium, Africa and the International Court of Justice, 1979-1980 (Ref:Joffé 10); copies of archival documents used in research undertaken by Menas and in court and arbitration proceedings, employed to establish historical precedents and resolve boundary disputes, on Malta, including copies of documents in the Archives of the Knights of St John, Public Record Office (PRO), London, and the State Archives in Venice, in Italian, French and English, [1728-1950], Israel-Jordan water resources mainly from the US National Archives' Eric Johnson manuscripts, Public Record Office (PRO) Colonial Office and Foreign Office documents on the same subject, 1876-1959], Saudi Arabia-Yemen territorial dispute copies of diplomatic records from the Public Record Office, India Office and Ottoman Archives, Istanbul, [1890-1930], copies of treaties mainly on the Mediterranean and Morocco, in French, [1761-1985], Libya disputes with Chad and Malta, French plans for Libya and the former Italian colonies, including PRO Foreign Office 371 and 146, and the Rennell papers, Nuffield College, Oxford, [1883-1991], Iraq-Kuwait territorial claims including PRO Foreign Office 371 documents and India Office papers, [1909-1956] (Ref: Joffé 11/1-6).