P.J. Crowley to speak on Wikileaks and national security

Wikileaks recently released 250,000 unedited U.S. diplomatic cables, creating yet another internet and diplomaticsensation of enormous consequence to U.S. military members, diplomats, Foreign Service professionals, and the media. Philip J. (PJ) Crowley, will present “Wikileaks: One Year Later,” at Penn State Law in Carlisle on October 25. The public is welcome.

“We can do more to improve transparency so that government is fully accountable to an informed citizenry. But fewer secrets does not mean no secrets. And the wholesale release of 250,000 documents, many rightly classified, has done damage to the U.S. national interest,” according to Crowley. He added that, “We have to learn and apply the right lessons as we work through the implications of the convergence of policy, information and technology represented by WikiLeaks.” Crowley's talk will focus on the national security, diplomatic, and media impacts of WikiLeaks. He is the 2011-2012 General Omar N. Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership, a joint effort among Penn State's School of International Affairs, Dickinson College, the U.S. Army War College, and Penn State Law to promote the exploration of leadership issues and military-civilian interaction.

Crowley's research and teaching interests focus on national security policy, public diplomacy, and the impact of the global media environment on conflict, policy, and politics. President Barack Obama nominated, and the United States Senate confirmed, Crowley to be Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs in the U.S. Department of State in 2009. He held that position until March 2011 when he resigned from the State Department after criticizing the Administration's treatment of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the person who allegedly passed restricted information to Wikileaks.

Crowley's talk will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the auditorium of Lewis Katz Hall in Carlisle, Pa. and will be simulcast to the Greg Sutliff Auditorium in the Lewis Katz building in University Park.