Whistleblowing, Leaking, and the Challenge of Disclosure: New Directions in the History of National Security Secrecy

Abstract

Modern American history has witnessed an explosion of unauthorized disclosures of information from the national security state. This roundtable will explore how this subject can shed new light on the history of American law, democracy, political culture, national security, and foreign policy throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. We will also assess how the practice of history has been shaped by the rise of secrecy and unauthorized disclosures, and the methodological challenges this new, contentious information environment poses to historians. Finally, we will ask what role historians, and historical research, can play in contextualizing these controversial developments, and whether the historical community has a public role to play in what are sure to be ongoing controversies about secrecy and disclosure in the coming years.

Chair and Panelist: Kaeten Mistry, University of East Anglia

Panelist: Hannah Gurman, New York University

Panelist: Matthew L. Jones, Columbia University

Panelist: Julia Rose Kraut, Legal historian

Panelist: Sam Lebovic, George Mason University