Why I will not analyze the new WikiLeaks data

Re:Why I will not analyze the new WikiLeaks data by potatolicious on Monday November 29, 2010 @06:11AM (#1949957)

The problem here is that this is not universal. If WikiLeaks is going to make a habit of this sort of leak, it will completely kneecap US foreign relations and make it impossible to speak to any of our foreign allies in confidence.

Meanwhile our allies and enemies alike will have no such handicap.

WikiLeaks can potentially shift the balance of diplomatic power drastically - and not in a particularly good way at that. It would be a difference story if they could get leaks out of every major government - but a few seem particularly problematic: China and Russia come to mind.

In the US, Pfc. Manning faces court martial and jail time for leaking this information. In China they'd just put a bullet in your head without any kind of process, and then in your families' too just for good measure. This is information asymmetry, and is downright dangerous.

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Re:Why I will not analyze the new WikiLeaks data by stantonk on Monday November 29, 2010 @11:54AM (#1950898)

Absolutely. The diplomacy that goes on behind closed doors does so for a reason. Politics tends to shift the focus to the irrational side (just look at the current state of political discourse in the US). If we had access to other nation's documents like these, I think the US would look downright saintly (or at least no worse).

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