I was out of town this weekend, blissfully disconnected from phone and Internet. I came back to find out that since I blogged about Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs warning students not to discuss Wikileaks online if they ever want to work for the State Department, the story has, well, exploded.

The Huffington Post got in touch with State Department spokesperson Philip J. Crowley, who said the SIPA alum who e-mailed the Office of Career Services was acting of his own volition:

This is not true. We have instructed State Department employees not to access the WikiLeaks site and download posted documents using an unclassified network since these documents are still classified. We condemn what Mr. Assange is doing, but have given no advice to anyone beyond the State Department to my knowledge….

If an employee of the State Department sent such an email, it does not represent a formal policy position.

So it looks like the blame for OCS’s ridiculous “advice” falls squarely on the shoulders of SIPA, then. Excellent.

• Don’t Mention the Cables, Future Diplomats (NYTimes)
• State Dept. Bars Staffers from WikiLeaks, Warns Students (Democracy Now!)
• Columbia students told job prospects harmed if they access WikiLeaks cables (The Guardian)
• Students Warned Not To Link To Or Even Read WikiLeaks If They Want A Federal Job. Is This Still America? (Crooks and Liars)
• SIPA warns students to avoid WikiLeaks (Columbia Spectator)
• Columbia U diplomacy students warned about cables (Wall Street Journal)
• Columbia University to Students: Act Like State Cables Aren’t Leaking (NY Magazine)
• Columbia University Warns Students Against Mentioning WikiLeaks in Public (The Village Voice)
• State Department To Columbia University Students: DO NOT Discuss WikiLeaks On Facebook, Twitter (Huffington Post)
• Some Columbia University students warned about WikiLeaks (The Hindu)
• Some Columbia U. students warned about WikiLeaks (Fox News)
• Some Columbia U. Students Warned About WikiLeaks (ABC News)
• Fed workers told: Stay away from those leaked cables. Directive notes the content ‘remains classified’; Columbia U. also warns future diplomats (MSNBC)
• Some Columbia U. Students Warned About WikiLeaks (CBS News)
• State Dept. Denies WikiLeaks Warning to Columbia (CBS News)
• Columbia To Students: Steer Clear Of WikiLeaks (NY 1)
• Diplo Wiki warning (New York Post)
• Some Columbia U. students warned about WikiLeaks (Miami Herald)

Posted in international politics, SIPA, u.s. foreign policy | Leave a comment

Yesterday a friend forwarded me a link to a blog post about Wikileaks. Not surprising, given the number of Wikileaks-related blog posts that are floating around the Internet in the wake of the organization’s release of a quarter of a million U.S. Embassy cables. But this blog post was different: this blog post referenced the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), from which I graduated six months ago.

The author reposts an e-mail sent from SIPA’s Office of Career Services to all current students. It reads:

From: “Office of Career Services”

Date: November 30, 2010 15:26:53 ESTTo:

Hi students,

We received a call today from a SIPA alumnus who is working at the State Department. He asked us to pass along the following information to anyone who will be applying for jobs in the federal government, since all would require a background investigation and in some instances a security clearance.

The documents released during the past few months through Wikileaks are still considered classified documents. He recommends that you DO NOT post links to these documents nor make comments on social media sites such as Facebook or through Twitter. Engaging in these activities would call into question your ability to deal with confidential information, which is part of most positions with the federal government.

Regards,
Office of Career Services

I’m currently happily employed at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, but while I was at SIPA I seriously considered a career in the Foreign Service. I applied for (and was offered) a summer internship at the State Department, and I coordinated a conference on Policy Making in the Digital Age, at which the State Department’s Director of the Office of eDiplomacy and a representative of the Office of Innovative Engagement spoke.

I guess I can kiss that possible alternate career path goodbye, given that I tweeted a link yesterday to an article about CableGate. Seriously, State Department? This is all over the news. What’s more, it’s become a focal point for discussions on how digital technology is changing our expectations for government transparency (for those who’ve forgotten: the State Department is big on using tech to promote transparency in other countries. Just not here in the US?).

Seriously, SIPA? As fellow SIPA alum Ben Colmery pointed out in a comment on my Facebook wall, since when does having an opinion about a site leaking documents equate to actually leaking documents oneself? You claim to provide committed students with the necessary skills and perspectives to become responsible leaders. Apparently that means curtailing their academic freedom and teaching them how to bury their heads in the sand.

Crossposted on The Morningside Post

Update, December 6: The State Department is denying that it provided “advice to anyone beyond the State Department” regarding Wikileaks and claiming the information in the OCS email “does not represent a formal policy position.”

Posted in international politics, SIPA, social media, technology, u.s. foreign policy | 9 Comments

More than three years ago, I wrote about why I opposed sending Ugandan troops to Somalia. At the time, I noted that “insurgents have ‘vowed to kill the incoming peacekeepers’ and have been launching almost daily attacks in Mogadishu, and Eritrea has warned that the presence of Ugandan forces could prompt a full-out war.”

Yesterday, three bombs went off in Kampala, one at an Ethiopian restaurant and two at the Kyadondo Rugby Club. Both places were packed with people watching the final game of the World Cup. Uganda police are blaming Somali militant group al-Shabab for the attacks. A leader of the group, which has ties to al-Qaeda, recently announced, “We urge our brothers from Chechnya, Pakistan, Afghanistan and from anywhere around the world to attack the diplomatic missions of Uganda and Burundi.”

Al-Shabab has not yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the police and the media seem to be taking their role as a given. If the bombs are indeed traceable to them, this would be the first time al-Shabab has operated outside of Somalia.

I heard about the bombings in Kampala on Twitter last night and have been reloading Google Reader since looking for more news. As far as I can tell, the blogren and my other friends in Kampala are all safe, though obviously shaken up. Baz pointed out that the location of the attacks has meant that Twitter and Facebook have played a huge role in spreading news:

Because of the location of the attacks, for once, it’s us, The Web 2.0 generation, that is affected, so we are watching our twitter and facebook feeds with trepidation, like any second now…

Thanks to those of you who’ve blogged and tweeted and commented, letting me know you’re safe. I’ve hastily pulled together the blog posts I could find for a post on Global Voices:

Soccer fans gathered in bars and restaurants around the globe to watch the final game of the World Cup last night. In Uganda, these celebrations were interrupted when bombs exploded at two popular nightlife spots in Kampala, the country’s capital.

Read more »

I’ll keep checking throughout the day in case there’s any more news. The Daily Nation is reporting that Uganda’s increasing, rather than decreasing, the number of troops it has in Somalia. Blogren, if you have anything to add, you know where to find me. My thoughts are with you and your families, and I’m praying that these are isolated incidents, rather than the precursor to the full-out war Eritrea predicted three years ago.

Also, in the course of writing the GV post I came across these photos by Trevor Snapp, a documentary photographer in Kampala. He understandably would prefer to be paid for his amazing work and has asked that I not replicate the photos on GV, but I highly recommend that you check them out.

UPDATE: Trevor has since decided to allow Global Voices to use one of his photos, free of charge, in the post. A million thanks to him for supporting nonprofit citizen media!

Posted in global voices, international politics, uganda, ugandan blogosphere | Leave a comment