In a program co-sponsored by the American Foreign Service Association and the Public Diplomacy Alumni Association, former Assistant Secretary Philip J. (P.J.) Crowley will discuss what he has called the “U.S. Public Diplomacy Deficit” on Wednesday, April 16 at 2:00 pm, at AFSA headquarters, 2101 E Street, N.W. (Metro: Foggy Bottom/GWU). All AFSA and PDAA members and their guests are cordially invited to this free event. In order to register, please RSVP to events@afsa.org. Please contact Joe O’Connell (joeceara@verizon.net) with any questions about the April 16 program.

P.J. Crowley is a Professor of Practice and a Fellow at the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication at The George Washington University, where he currently teaches courses on public diplomacy and crisis communications. He appears frequently as a national security commentator on national and global television networks, including as a regular contributor to the BBC.

Mr. Crowley served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs between 2009 and 2011, and was the principal U.S. government interlocutor with major media regarding the impact of the release of classified diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks. He resigned from that position following public comments critical of the government’s pre-trial treatment of Private Bradley Manning. Atlantic Magazine named Crowley as one of the 21 Brave Thinkers in 2011.

Mr. Crowley is a retired Air Force colonel and a veteran of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1991. He served on the National Security Council at the White House as a special assistant to President Clinton and deputy press secretary. He deployed to NATO headquarters in Brussels during the 1999 Kosovo crisis to support then NATO Secretary General Javier Solana.

He has authored several studies on homeland security issues, most recently Homeland Security and the Post-9/11 Era for the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and The Rise of Transparency and Decline of Secrecy in the Age of Global and Social Media for the Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs.