Politics

Слежка и американская свобода

Aug 8, 2013 Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

КЕМБРИДЖ – С тех пор как Эдвард Сноуден раскрыл информацию о том, что Агентство национальной безопасности непрерывно собирает огромное количество данных об электронных коммуникациях граждан США и других стран, много внимания было уделено его персональному статусу. Но более важным вопросом, еще до того как Россия предоставила ему временное убежище, оставался статус американских гражданских свобод. Действительно ли США виновны в лицемерии, как утверждают Россия, Китай и другие страны?

Чтобы ответить на этот вопрос, необходимо разделить две отдельные проблемы, которые смешались в публичных дебатах: электронный шпионаж против иностранных лиц и внутреннее наблюдение правительства за собственными гражданами.

До разглашения Сноудена кибершпионаж стал одним из основных пунктов разногласий в американско-китайских отношениях. Это обсуждалось в июне на неформальном саммите между президентами Бараком Обамой и Си Цзиньпином, и правительства двух стран договорились о создании специальной рабочей группы по этому вопросу.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 11 Comments on this article

hari naidu Aug 12, 2013

*American exceptionalism*...is the real post-war issue.

US has been rubbing EU and BRICs noses, since GWB and now The Pasha (Obama!) came to power under Patriot Act.

The revelations of Snowden opened the eyes of Berlin establishment principally because BND (German CIA) was (and is) actually in bed with NSA - collecting German private emails and whatnots thru Google, Facebook, and other American IT providers.

Nye is refusing to acknowledge that this *exceptional* political spying on foreigners is, in fact, allowed NSA by US Patriot Act. However, NSA is legally forbidden to spy on its own citizens, including drone attacks.

US Congress is not at all concerned about spying on foreigners (EU Mission in D.C.), including mainland China, and, if you listen to them on C-Span - it is absolutely transparent how they interpret Patriot Act Sec.215 which allows spying on foreign individuals.

May be also American citizens...!

Talking about American sin, Nye doesn't explain how a sovereign state under international law can morally justify its immoral and outright lies - as exposed by Snowden.
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Paul A. Myers Aug 10, 2013

The line between domestic and international in a highly integrated world is increasingly blurred.

A simple fact is that Pakistan has 50 nuclear weapons dispersed across a fractured country deeply penetrated by intensely motivated and skilled terrorists. The damage that could be done by just one of these bombs, or other fissile material, going rogue could be a new Hiroshima.

I think a lot of surveillance is justified, particularly of international communications, in the new world we find ourselves in.

As Guantanamo reminds us, we truly need a way to bring terrorists to federal courts, rules of evidence to deal with the complexities of the situation, and a backdrop of accountability to Congress of surveillance intelligence. To dangerously limit or prohibit some forms of surveillance seems unwise and short-sighted; strengthening accountability is the way forward.
- Carol Maczinsky Aug 12, 2013
  
  There is also a line between spying at NATO allies and spying at other nations. It is that the Obama government killed the West, the transatlantic community.
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hari naidu Aug 10, 2013

S Gabriel, SPD Chairman, is now asking Bundestag BND Committee to ask/invite Snowden to their official hearing on NSAs collection of German private emails and whatnot.

German BND (CIA) has admitted that they have collected and distributed it to NSA....

I suspect that this domestic tsunami will impact result of German federal election on 22 Sept.

May be it's time - after 9/11 - to revisit Patriot Act which US Congress passed under tremendous WH (GWB) political pressure, specially Section 215.
- Carol Maczinsky Aug 12, 2013
  
  If the BND engages in unlawful collaboration and assistance of foreign espionage, what will lead to consequences, including penal sanctions against those
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Tom Resom Aug 10, 2013

"American policy is not to steal intellectual property…." This is an assertion without prove.

Given the extension of the programs revealed by Snowden's documents so far and the remaining veil of secrecy on the one hand and the conduct of many other countries it seems more plausible (cp. Occam's Razor) to hold the opposite view that the US is actually pursuing its interests in every possible way as well.
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Leo Arouet Aug 10, 2013

Si el Programa que defiende Estados Unidos y que argumenta que éste no viola la privacidad de sus ciudadanos, fuese tan eficiente como lo describe al final; entonces, este programa hubiese impedido los atentados de Boston al igual que los atentados en Nueva York.
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Carol Maczinsky Aug 9, 2013

Who had to step down in the US and take the political responsibility for the espionage against the European Council?
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Frank O'Callaghan Aug 9, 2013

It is clear that borders and citizenship do not mean the same as they once did. Citizenship is withdrawn at will and borders mean nothing in the cyber world. The war is not between nation states but between powerful elites. The prize is for who should exploit the powerless. The whistleblowers are the only ones standing with the overwhelming majority of humanity.
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Zsolt Hermann Aug 8, 2013

At the moment there are two major directions human development is going towards, and the two directions are completely opposite to each other.
On one hand basically the whole world is gripped by paranoid fear. Fear of terrorists, fear of internal conflict due to social inequality, unemployment, debt burden, fear of natural catastrophes, economical, financial collapse etc. This fear is driving isolation, attempts of domination, increased control.
And the US is the most obvious example of this paranoid fear, with every announcement, action, reaction.
On the other hand the evolution of human society into a single, interconnected and interdependent network has basically been completed.
Most people accept today that we all exist in a global and integral system, in other words we are all sitting on the same boat.
The paranoid fear, distrust, active alienation, aggression against each other in such an integral system causes unprecedented tensions, threatening with unprecedented disaster.
It is like forgetting that drilling a hole on the wall of the boat sinks the whole boat regardless of where the hole is.
Contagion, domino, boomerang effect are very real phenomena in our world today.
People, especially present day leaders would need to take a pause, take a step back to fully understand, internalize the system we evolved into instead of relying on instinctive, mindless reflex reactions, "old school techniques".
If we do not do that pro-actively, "waking up the dawn" ourselves, the dawn will come in a very unpleasant, suffering way as we exist in a natural system with unbreakable laws.
More and more scientific studies are coming out proving that the Darwinian evolution principles were misunderstood or misinterpreted. The fittest to survive is not necessarily the strongest, greatest, but the ones that are capable of adapting to the mutually responsible and complementing connections prevalent in nature' system.
This we all need to facilitate and sustain mutual connections and build a new human society based on them above our inherent differences, rejections, hatred and fear.
We are not in a Hollywood movie with guaranteed happy ending, we are writing the ending of this movie and have to feel our vast responsibility accordingly.
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MK Anon Aug 8, 2013

"examining the content of a message from a suspect non-American source is less controversial"

Am I reading right? So the EU trade commission is 1) suspect and 2) not controversial
And this is only the tip of the iceberg. I wonder how many blackmailing happened already. How many important decisions are made on that base. If Barrosso is so keen to have the free trade agreement with the US, wouldn't it be because he's being gently pushed in the "right" direction ?
There is absolutely no democratic control over what can be accessed, by whom, and for which purpose. Oh yes ! I forgot the natural "trust" we have in our leaders.. who don't hesitate a second to impose their views against the majority, or convince the majority through manufacturing consent techniques..everyday more developed through the social networks.

Why not have a referendum on the NSA,s existence as it is now..
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Слежка и американская свобода

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