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WIKILEAKS CABLEGATE MEDIA MONITOR REPORT
MAY 17, 2011 - 10:33AM PST
by David McDougall
The ongoing release of 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables by Wikileaks started in late 2010, in staggered releases coordinated with global news organizations, including: The New York Times, El País, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, and others. The released cables offer a look inside the American diplomatic process (and the diplomatic process in general), revealing the distance between public and private communication. None of this really qualifies as news; governments and their publics have long understood that traditional diplomacy is an art that depends on concealment. The content of the cables released thus far has been similarly underwhelming, mainly resulting in a few bruised egos and embarrassments (both personal and national). There was a suspicion that this secrecy breach might change the government’s attitude toward secrecy in diplomacy. Proof that diplomacy continues despite this release of information might be found in the U.S. government’s own presentation of the damage caused: while (since-resigned) State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley maintained that “there has been substantial damage” as a result of the release of the cables, the government’s private assessment of the publication is that it “was embarrassing but not damaging." In spite of the relative lack of substance in most of the material released to date, there have been concrete consequences from the release of the cables. Some American ambassadors have found their jobs complicated by the repercussions of their newly-published remarks; Carlos Pascual resigned as Ambassador to Mexico after his relationship with Mexican President Felipe Calderon soured as a result of the cables that criticized Mexico’s army and police forces for being ineffective and corrupt. Ambassadors to other countries such as Kenya and Libya encountered difficulties from their critiques of local regimes. The U.S. ambassador to Ecuador was recently expelled following the publication of a cable in which she alleged widespread corruption in the Ecuadorian police force. The U.S. responded in turn by expelling Ecuadorian Ambassador Luis Gallegas and cancelling an upcoming round of trade talks. The reputation of the U.S. has suffered in some places; in Spain, cables published by El País revealed that the U.S. embassy interfered in Spanish criminal proceedings against three American soldiers accused of killing Telecinco cameraman José Couso in Baghdad in 2003. Domestic debates in the United States about the appropriate response to the leak have included labeling Wikileaks head Julian Assange or the organization itself as “terrorist,” up to scattered calls for Assange’s assassination. Various critics, including President Lula of Brazil have attacked the U.S. response to Wikileaks as hypocritical and disproportionate. Various other governments and politicians have had their domestic reputations damaged by the cables released thus far. In India, Wikileaks’ revelations have helped inspire protests against government corruption, while Lebanon and other countries have faced criticisms about the nature and extent of their relationship with the United States. In Tunisia, the publication of cables critical of government corruption helped mobilize a domestic protest movement that eventually toppled former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Wikileaks, like Al Jazeera (whose international broadcasting influence may or…... FULL TEXT
WikiLeaks: America's Cablegate Media Monitor: Latest News Coverage
WikiLeaks and laying bare diplomatic secrets
(Al Arabiya, 4 Dec 2010)
Soon, after the shock of the WikiLeaks leaks fades away in the media and international concern, and the astonishment wanes, the reality of the evidence and the public documentation of secret diplomacy will remain a meaningful event, at present and in the future.
WikiLeaks Causes Singapore Officials to be Cautious with U.S. Diplomats
(Penn Olson, 11 Jan 2011)
Last month, there were several released documents from WikiLeaks, which showed Singapore Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew and other Singapore diplomats giving unflattering remarks on countries including Myanmar, North Korea, Malaysia and India.
Do We Have Ahmadinejad All Wrong?
(The Atlantic, 13 Jan 2011)
Is it possible that Iran's blustering president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, long thought to be a leading force behind some of Iran's most hard-line and repressive policies, is actually a reformer whose attempts to liberalize, secularize, and even "Persianize" Iran have been repeatedly stymied by the country's more conservative factions?
US ambassador seeks to 'build bridges' with Vatican
(Catholic News Agency, 21 Jan 2011)
America’s ambassador to the Holy See says the two sides are working to rebuild trust following the leak of embarrassing diplomatic cables late last year.
WikiLeaks: America's Cablegate Media Monitor: U.S. Media Coverage
Will WikiLeaks Hobble U.S. Diplomacy?
(Council on Foreign Relations, 2 Dec 2010)
How will this week's release of more than 250,000 diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks.org impact U.S. diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, Pakistan, and elsewhere? Six CFR experts are unanimous in cautioning that WikiLeaks' latest data dump could hurt sensitive relationships and make open exchanges more difficult.
WikiLeaks Reveals Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll In Saudi Arabia
(Forbes (Blog), 9 Dec 2010)
But there’s still some interesting stuff, albeit sometimes superficial, to be found in the cables. A confidential memo from late 2009, released on Tuesday December 7, informed the State Department that Saudi youth love to party with “alcohol, prostitutes, and drugs.”
Wikileaks's unveiling of cables shows delicate diplomatic balance with Pakistan
(The Washington Post, 29 Nov 2010)
The latest document dump from WikiLeaks reveals the diplomatic high wire the United States is often walking in its relationship with countries that are considered crucial allies in fighting terrorism, such as Pakistan.
Hillary Clinton Punctures The WikiLeaks Myth
(Time (Blog), 30 Nov 2010)
Except, I have yet to see anything in the reporting on these documents that show's the U.S. government engaged in any behavior that would upset the great mass of the American public. In a statement to the press today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made this same point, rather directly.
The 9 Most Shocking WikiLeaks Secrets
(The Daily Beast, 30 Nov 2010)
The whistleblower’s latest document dump exposes Saudi Arabia’s plot against Iran, a corrupt Afghan’s $52 million payday, Putin and Berlusconi’s “bromance,” and more. See nine of the most startling details.
WikiLeaks degenerates into gossip
(The Economist, 30 Nov 2010)
So we have another WikiLeaks release, and this time it's secret diplomatic cables. So far the interesting material is on Arab states' and America's relationships with Iran. It seems all those fervid background-only reports of Arab states urging America to bomb Iran, which I mistrusted at the time, were true.
WikiLeaks: Why They Help American Diplomacy
(The Huffington Post (Blog), 30 Nov 2010)
For all the State Department's understandable security concern about the recent disclosure of classified telegrams from its embassies by WikiLeaks, there are elements in this exposé that can actually improve how Americans and the rest of the world view US diplomacy and, most important, the United States itself.
Clinton, in Kazakhstan for summit, will face leaders unhappy over WikiLeaks cables
(The Washington Post, 30 Nov 2010)
As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton landed here Tuesday for a security summit, she faced the prospect of encountering people who might not be very happy with some of the State Department cables disclosed this week by WikiLeaks.
Kenya calls US 'swamp of graft' cable 'malicious'
(The Washington Post, 30 Nov 2010)
Kenya's government spokesman said Tuesday that a U.S. characterization of the country as a "swamp" of corruption in reports of leaked diplomatic memos is "malicious" if true.
Foreign governments say WikiLeaks revelations undercut relations with U.S.
(The Washington Post, 30 Nov 2010)
Diplomats and government officials around the world lamented Monday the massive leak of U.S. diplomatic cables, and many predicted it would undercut their ability to deal with the United States on sensitive issues.
U.S. says foreign ties can withstand leaks
(The Washington Post, 30 Nov 2010)
The Obama administration sought Monday to dilute the fallout from the disclosure of more than 250,000 State Department cables, insisting that strong foreign partnerships could withstand the damage and that the leaks will not force any U.S. policy changes.
WikiLeaks provides the truth Bush obscured
(The Washington Post (Opinion), 30 Nov 2010)
Say what you want about WikiLeaks - and I don't much like what it has done - it nevertheless would be useful for its founder, Julian Assange, to follow George W. Bush as he lopes around the country, promoting his new book, "Decision Points."
Amidst WikiLeaks documents, novel diplomacy
(The Washington Post (Opinion), 30 Nov 2010)
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was wicked mad over WikiLeaks. "This disclosure is not just an attack on America's foreign policy interests," she declared Monday. "It is an attack on the international community."...But look on the bright side: The leaks have shown the world that somewhere within the U.S. diplomatic corps lurks literary genius.
Foreign Countries Appear To Take WikiLeaks Revelations In Stride
(Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 1 Dec 2010)
Governments around the world have tended to downplay the United States' embarrassing problem over the ongoing release of hundreds of thousands of its confidential diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks.
How The WikiLeaks Leaks Could Backfire
(Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 1 Dec 2010)
Those looking for skullduggery won't find very much, although of course as they will remind us, that is because all the skullduggery is hidden behind much higher layers of secrecy. As Timothy Garton Ash writes, "from what I have seen, the professional members of the US foreign service have very little to be ashamed of."
Nuclear Fuel Memos Expose Wary Dance With Pakistan
(The New York Times, 1 Dec 2010)
Less than a month after President Obama testily assured reporters in 2009 that Pakistan’s nuclear materials “will remain out of militant hands,” his ambassador here sent a secret message to Washington suggesting that she remained deeply worried.
North Korea Keeps the World Guessing
(The New York Times, 1 Dec 2010)
With North Korea reeling from economic and succession crises, American and South Korean officials early this year secretly began gaming out what would happen if the North, led by one of the world’s most brutal family dynasties, collapsed.
Cables Depict U.S. Haggling to Clear Guantánamo
(The New York Times, 1 Dec 2010)
Last year, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia proposed an unorthodox way to return Guantánamo Bay prisoners to a chaotic country like Yemen without fear that they would disappear and join a terrorist group.
WikiLeaks: Foreign Diplomacy Is Just Like Mean Girls
(New York Magazine, 30 Nov 2010)
If WikiLeaks's latest data dump is the equivalent of distributing photocopies of America's Burn Book, would that make Hillary Clinton the Regina George of international relations?
Dictators, Democracies and WikiLeaks
(The Wall Street Journal, 1 Dec 2010)
Why are diplomatic cables secret at all? It's a fair question to ask as we assess the WikiLeaks disclosures and the damage they may do. Overall, there are very few surprises in these cables.
Foreign Policy: What If All Diplomacy Was Public
(NPR, 1 Dec 2010)
Here's the question: How much difference would it really make if all these "private" diplomatic meetings were public?...how much would world politics change if all these conversations were held in public so that people could see and hear what was being said?
Wikileaks Cables Reveal That Canada Is Boring
(The AtlanticWire, 2 Dec 2010)
But what about our diplomatic mission in Canada? What untold secrets do their classified communications reveal to the world? Now that those cables have been released, we finally know: Canada is a pretty dull place to be a U.S. diplomat.
WikiLeaks Shows Who Is The Second Most Powerful Woman In U.S. Diplomacy
(Forbes (Blog), 3 Dec 2010)
In the past three years Anne W. Patterson, the US ambassador to Pakistan until October, has dealt with a weak civilian government, a recalcitrant military, a stockpile of not very strictly guarded highly enriched uranium (as per the latest release of ambassadors’ cables by WikiLeaks), the Taliban, a war in the country on the west, and regular flare ups with the neighbor on the east.
The State Department Should Embrace Its New Wikileaks Cablegate Transparency
(Forbes (Blog), 3 Dec 2010)
The State Department isn’t happy about having its confidential, top-secret cables blasted across the Internet by Wikileaks, but there’s no going back now, so it should embrace its new transparency...let’s look at the upside of this forced transparency. Cablegate may be for the State Department what Top Gun was for the Air Force — a great recruitment tool.
WikiLeaks Shows the Skills of U.S. Diplomats
(Time (Opinion), 3 Dec 2010)
A remarkably broad consensus has formed that WikiLeaks' latest data dump is a diplomatic disaster for the U.S. While there are debates over how the Obama Administration should respond, everyone agrees that the revelations have weakened America. But have they?
Who's Who in WikiLeaks
(Foreign Policy, 2 Dec 2010)
Of all the world leaders featured in the WikiLeaks cables, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has probably been the most positive about the revelations, saying, "The documents show many sources backing Israel's assessments, particularly of Iran." All the same, the documents present the voluble Israeli leader in some illuminating candid moments.
Wikileaks reveal North Korea is alone
(Conservative Home, 3 Dec 2010)
The release of classified U.S. material by Wikileaks has been characterized in a negative light – as an embarrassment to the U.S. administration and a threat to U.S. national security and the international community at large. As former U.S. government officials who worked on North Korea (DPRK) for the National Security Council and for the Office of Korean Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, it is crucial to underscore the impact these leaks have had on efforts to work with other countries to address common problems.
An increasingly public and competitive info system
(Balance of Culture, 1 Dec 2010)
I have to admit, I'm kind of in awe of all the recent WikiLeaks chaos. One of the most engrossing aspects of the subject is how 5 of the world's largest newspapers were simply ordinary (albeit B-list) shills in the process of information dissemination - in other words, it was a website that actually broke the story. The big papers simply republished what was already out there on the world wide web. Really makes you notice how the traditional media is now so easily left in the dust vis-à-vis the web - and therefore, unfortunately, as irrelevant as we've ever witnessed.
WikiLeaks Revelations: The Implications for Diplomacy
(Guerrilla Diplomacy Blog, 30 Nov 2010)
In my book Guerrilla Diplomacy, I argue that if development is the new security in the age of globalization, then diplomacy must displace defence at the centre of international policy. More recently, in a short article on science diplomacy, I observe that when it comes to assessing the role of science and technology (S&T) in international relations, one is confronted by a significant paradox.
WikiLeaks: The Deluge Continues
(The Atlantic, 1 Dec 2010)
WikiLeaks: The five strangest stories...so far
(The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Dec 2010)
The release of US diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks contains some serious stuff: US diplomats have been trying to steal the credit card numbers of top UN officials, Saudi Arabia is putting pressure on the US to attack Iran, Iran has obtained advanced long-range missiles from North Korea. Other cables are not so earth-shaking, but they nonetheless reveal personalities and events that are comical, surprising, or just plain weird. Here's our top five.
Ecuador and Venezuela compete to praise WikiLeaks' Julian Assange
(The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Dec 2010)
It's a rare day when Ecuador can out-Chávez Hugo Chávez. The Venezuelan president seems to seize every chance to criticize the United States, and he didn't miss a beat by praising the "bravery" of controversial website WikiLeaks – which is releasing a cache of 250,000 classified US diplomatic cables – and calling for the resignation of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
What We Should Know About The WikiLeaks Cables
(Radio Free Europe, 2 Dec 2010)
WikiLeaks' slowly spilling flood of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables has sparked a fierce debate around the world about not only the ethics of this leak, but its very value. My first training is not as a journalist, but as an historian and a philosopher, which means I've got a fancy way to describe this situation: an epistemological quandary, i.e., we don't know what we should know.
WikiLeaks vs. U.S. Diplomacy
(Radio Free Europe, 2 Dec 2010)
The online release of a quarter of a million classified U.S. diplomatic cables by the WikiLeaks organization has stirred up a world of controversy. Days after the release, with world leaders and U.S. government officials scrambling to exercise damage control, journalists and experts continue to pick over the revelations for the most revealing tidbits about the conduct of U.S. foreign policy.
WikiLeaks and the sham of "public diplomacy"
(Salon , 4 Dec 2010)
As the latest WikiLeaks revelations have shown, when diplomatic cables are made public they are often far from diplomatic. In fact, they aren't even good journalism.
Canadians, road signs, censors and leash laws
(Herald-Tribune, 5 Dec 2010)
The National Portrait Gallery's succumbing to pressure to remove a video from an art exhibit is highly disappointing. Worse than disappointing are the politicians and self-appointed censors who are pressing the gallery to dismantle the entire exhibit and are using the controversy to threaten the museum's public funding.
Introducing the Cablegate Chronicles
(The Atlantic, 3 Dec 2010)
Among the revelations in the Wikileaks documents is this: Inside many a foreign service officer lurks a frustrated novelist. While most of the State Department cables engage in dry analysis of geopolitical issues, some are polished narrative gems crafted with an ear for dialogue and an eye to catching the attention of bureaucratic higher-ups. At times, it feels like tabloid diplomacy.
No More Secrets
(The Atlantic, 3 Dec 2010)
Similarly, forcing the US military and the State Department to become more secretive might well hamper their effectiveness. But it seems most likely to hamper their effectiveness at things like nation-building and community outreach, where you need a broad, decentralized effort.
Not Dead Yet
(Newsweek , 6 Dec 2010)
Leaking diplomatic dispatches used to be a recognized diplomatic art. In the not too distant past, American ambassadors in Central America or the Middle East who thought Washington was ignoring their cables would share them with correspondents, knowing that news reports would have a better chance of reaching the secretary of state’s desk than almost any memo the ambassadors wrote themselves.
A WikiLeaks disconnect
(The Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec 2010)
The diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks have, among other things, fed the notion that America's partners in the Middle East would support a forceful, perhaps even military, response against the nuclear efforts of Iran.
Transparency: The New Source of Power
(The Huffington Post (Blog), 5 Dec 2010)
Government should be transparent by default, secret by necessity. Of course, it is not. Too much of government is secret. Why? Because those who hold secrets hold power. Now WikiLeaks has punctured that power. Whether or not it ever reveals another document -- and we can be certain that it will -- Wikileaks has made us all aware that no secret is safe. If something is known by one person, it can be known by the world.
Wikileaks, Al Jazeera, and the Qatari Public Diplomacy Challenge
(CPD Blog, 7 Dec 2010)
The latest round of WikiLeaks carried some bad news for Qatari public diplomacy, in the form of US embassy cables stating that the Qatari government is using Al Jazeera as a political bargaining tool. The leaked cables, from 2009, claim that Qatar has offered to stop Al Jazeera broadcasts in Egypt in return for Egypt’s cooperation in reaching a “settlement for the Palestinians”.
How WikiLeaks cables capture 21st-century Turkey
(The Washington Post, 7 Dec 2010)
As some of the more interesting of the WikiLeaked State Department documents show, that is a question that two consecutive U.S. administrations have struggled with. During eight years of rule by the mildly Islamist Justice and Development Party, Turkey has become something of a model of the tricky 21st-century relationships the United States will have to manage.
Public Diplomacy vs. Private Diplomacy
(South Capitol Street (Blog), 7 Dec 2010)
In a New Atlanticist piece titled “WikiLeaks Show American Diplomats in Good Light,” I rounded up some analysis showing that the recently leaked diplomatic cables showed an American foreign service that is highly professional and insightful and argued that, to the extent the private and public diplomacy differed, it was necessary.
The Wikileaked Cables: So That’s What Diplomats do!
(Whirled View (Blog), 7 Dec 2010)
Everyone who has represented the U.S. abroad knows what it’s like to be among fellow Americans who haven’t the foggiest notion of what the State Department does or, for that matter, what on earth diplomacy is good for. Julian Assange and Wikileaks may have lifted the veil. That's not entirely to the bad.
The curious life of the US diplomat, uncloaked
(Associated Press, 8 Dec 2010)
A diplomat's life is not just caviar and coattails. It's rubbery fish in Brussels, a nauseating revolving restaurant in Kazakhstan and an epic three-day Muslim wedding featuring "stupendous" quantities of booze, a golden pistol, dancing women, the scent of danger and cauldrons of cows boiled whole.
Sham on You, Ben Barber
(The Huffington Post (Blog), 8 Dec 2010)
Ben Barber's recent Salon article, "WikiLeaks and the sham of 'public diplomacy': Our diplomats spout jingoistic nonsense about American supremacy -- instead of engaging with the rest of the world," shows his heart in the right place but his history way out in left field.
Europeans Criticize Fierce U.S. Response to Leaks
(The New York Times, 9 Dec 2010)
The United States considers itself a shining beacon of democracy and openness, but for many Europeans Washington’s fierce reaction to the flood of secret diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks displays imperial arrogance and hypocrisy, indicating a post-9/11 obsession with secrecy that contradicts American principles.
Pakistani media publishes fake WikiLeaks scoops
(Foreign Policy (blog), 9 Dec 2010)
A front-page story in Pakistan's The News today reports that new WikiLeaks cables have confirmed what reads like a laundry list of Pakistani suspicions and grievances against India...The only problem is that none of these cables appear to be real. The Guardian, which has full access to the unreleased WikiLeaks cables, can't find any of them. The story, which ran in four Pakistani newspapers, isn't bylined and was credited only to Online Agency, an Islamabad-based pro-army news service.
Is Open Diplomacy Possible?
(Project Syndicate, 13 Dec 2010)
So when the furor erupted over WikiLeaks’ recent release of a quarter-million diplomatic cables, I was reminded of Wilson’s 1918 speech in which he put forward “Fourteen Points” for a just peace to end World War I.
WikiLeaks Proving A Political Bombshell In Pakistan
(Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 10 Dec 2010)
"Don't trust WikiLeaks," Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told journalists recently while discussing confidential U.S. diplomatic cables published by the whistle-blower site. The leaks, he said, are "the observations of junior diplomats."
Poll: Americans say WikiLeaks harmed public interest; most want Assange arrested
(The Washington Post, 14 Dec 2010)
The American public is highly critical of the recent release of confidential U.S. diplomatic cables on the WikiLeaks Web site and would support the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange by U.S. authorities, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. Most of those polled - 68 percent - say the WikiLeaks' exposure of government documents about the State Department and U.S. diplomacy harms the public interest
Watching WikiLeaks' 'Cablegate' From Tbilisi
(Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 20 Dec 2010)
There hasn't turned out to be any striking difference between what politicians and diplomats say publicly and what they are saying among themselves. Imagine: All the secrets of the U.S. State Department were exposed and not a single person had to resign!
Cyberteeth Bared
(International Herald Tribune, 22 Dec 2010)
2010 was the year that removed all doubt that cybersecurity is now a geopolitical problem. We learned from diplomatic cables exposed by WikiLeaks that from Europe to the Middle East to China and beyond, Washington is having an even tougher time than we thought getting what it wants.
How WikiLeaks Just Set Back Democracy in Zimbabwe
(The Atlantic, 28 Dec 2010)
Last year, early on Christmas Eve morning, representatives from the U.S., United Kingdom, Netherlands, and the European Union arrived for a meeting with Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Appointed prime minister earlier that year as part of a power-sharing agreement after the fraud- and violence-ridden 2008 presidential election, Tsvangirai and his political party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), are considered Zimbabwe's greatest hopes for unseating the country's long-time de facto dictator Robert Mugabe and bringing democratic reforms to the country.
Singapore says it will be more cautious with US after WikiLeaks
(Monsters & Critics , 10 Jan 2011)
Singapore diplomats would be more cautious in discussions with their US counterparts following the publication of confidential cables by WikiLeaks, the city-state's foreign minister said Monday, calling the release of the documents a disaster for the US.
In Persian Gulf, Clinton says damage from WikiLeaks deep
(The Washington Post, 9 Jan 2011)
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in the Middle East for meetings with Persian Gulf leaders, acknowledged Sunday that it would take years to undo the damage caused by the WikiLeaks revelations, likening her recent travels to an extended "apology tour" to reassure allies who suffered embarrassment or worse because of the disclosures.
Wikileaks Cablegate Reactions Roundup
(Waxy, 30 Nov 2010)
It's a stunning experiment of forced transparency, prying open government against its will without much care or concern about the ramifications. Wikileaks is the Pirate Bay of journalism — an unstoppable force disrupting whole industries because they can.
Will the WikiLeaks release damage U.S. diplomacy?
(The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1 Dec 2010)
Diplomacy is the second oldest legal profession but arguably the least understood. This reality has triggered disparate assessments of the impact of WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of U.S. confidential diplomatic dispatches. The consequences for the conduct of diplomacy are far-reaching and go beyond U.S. fundamental values of freedom of speech and transparency.
Japan’s Whale Diplomacy: More WikiLeaks
(The Wall Street Journal, 15 Jan 2011)
A swath of cables released by WikiLeaks show that Iceland looked to fellow pro-whaling nation Japan to bolster its case to ease the international ban on whale hunting. But Japan was hard-pressed to help.
Long live wiki-diplomacy
(CNN (Blog), 20 Jan 2011)
Since the WikiLeaks scandal exploded at the end of last year, many commentators have declared this episode marks "the end of diplomacy." Nonsense.
'Whether we like it or not: Brazil in the Middle East'
(Foreign Policy , 8 Feb 2011)
A series of cables released today reveal that U.S. diplomats were alarmed by Brazil's forays into Mideast diplomacy, long before last year's unsuccessful nuclear deal with Iran and the recognition of the Palestinian state.
U.S. secretly backed Syrian opposition groups, cables released by WikiLeaks show
(The Washington Post, 17 Apr 2011)
The State Department has secretly financed Syrian political opposition groups and related projects, including a satellite TV channel that beams anti-government programming into the country, according to previously undisclosed diplomatic cables.
Hold On! There's Someone You Need To Talk To
(The Public Diplomacy Council, 11 Jun 2011)
While intelligence analysts squinted at their reporting ... struggling to understand who the Libyan rebels were, the exiled diplomats recognized some surprising old contacts. A number of the opposition leaders, it turned out, had participated in the U.S. embassy's public diplomacy programs.
WikiLeaks: America's Cablegate Media Monitor: Global Media Coverage
US diplomats wanted propaganda war against Osama ahead of 9/11
(The Economic Times, 29 Nov 2010)
The diplomatic cable urged US to consider a new raft of anti-Bin Laden propaganda through the Voice of America radio station, interviews with Bin Laden victims, "commissioned articles" in the local press and an anti-Bin Laden website.
US tightens security after leaks
(BBC News, 29 Nov 2010)
Do they threaten US national security or are they simply a US national embarrassment? One test is to see if the cables show a secret diplomacy that is at serious odds with the public.
Weapons of mass information
(The Moscow News, 30 Nov 2010)
The secret diplomatic cables revealed by WikiLeaks have the potential to annoy governments around the world, and to inform (and even titillate) the rest of us. But are such leaks useful to the public, and do they bring real freedom of information any closer?
What will the Arab public think?
(Al Jazeera, 30 Nov 2010)
Confidential cables by American diplomats in the region, revealed by WikiLeaks, expose weak and fearful Arab leaders who are dependent on US protection against real and imagined fears over Iran's potential possession of nuclear arms and its influence in the Arab world.
How will the US win back trust?
(The Daily Star, 30 Nov 2010)
More revelations certainly await as the world combs through the more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables released Sunday by WikiLeaks, but already it is clear that the US is facing a monumental embarrassment and has vital questions to resolve about its trustworthiness and data security.
Wikileaks And The Silence Of Jordanian Media
(7iber.com, 30 Nov 2010)
It is arguably the biggest global story of the month, and quite possibly the year. Yet the biggest leak of confidential government cables in history has not been enough to elicit a proportionate reaction from the Jordanian media, even when Jordan plays an actual role in this bit of news.
WikiLeaks release: How China sees North Korea
(The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Dec 2010)
The latest WikiLeaks release suggests that China is trying to distance itself from the North Korean regime and may be struggling to rein in the country, which is heavily dependent on China.
Wikileaks shows the cynical nature of West diplomacy
(Mmegi Online, 1 Dec 2010)
However, we have to add our voice to those supporters of the free flow of information who argue that it is vital that the public - and in this globalised village we mean every citizen of the world - has as much information at their disposal about how those in control of the levers of power utilise that power as possible.
How WikiLeaks embarrassed and enraged America, gripped the public and rewrote the rules of diplomacy
(The Economist, 2 Dec 2010)
Secrets are as old as states, and so are enemies’, critics’ and busybodies’ efforts to uncover them. But the impact and scale of the latest disclosures by WikiLeaks, a secretive and autocratic outfit that campaigns for openness, are on a new level.
Wikileaks in Venezuela: Espionage, Propaganda, and Disinformation
(Venezuela Analysis, 4 Dec 2010)
The first batch of recently released secret and confidencial US State Department documents obtained by Wikileaks include over a dozen dispatches from the US Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, evidencing espionage against the Chavez administration, use of opposition media and politicians as informants and insulting remarks about the country.
WikiLeaks and laying bare diplomatic secrets
(Al Arabiya, 4 Dec 2010)
Soon, after the shock of the WikiLeaks leaks fades away in the media and international concern, and the astonishment wanes, the reality of the evidence and the public documentation of secret diplomacy will remain a meaningful event, at present and in the future.
WikiLeaks cables are dispatches from a beleaguered America in imperial retreat
(Guardian, 5 Dec 2010)
There's more to the WikiLeaks dispatches than leaks. Look behind them, at the writers, and you see the loyal rearguard of America: an imperial power in retreat.
WikiLeaks cables are dispatches from a beleaguered America in imperial retreat
(Guardian, 5 Dec 2010)
There's more to the WikiLeaks dispatches than leaks. Look behind them, at the writers, and you see the loyal rearguard of America: an imperial power in retreat.
Africa’s leaks: Much ado about too little?
(Daily Monitor , 5 Dec 2010)
Julian Assange’s website has attracted both flak and praise for leaking US diplomatic thinking. But some argue that Uncle Sam’s assessments are a fair reflection of what really goes on in Africa, writes Lee Mwiti.
Leaks damaged US credibility: Turki
(Arab News, 5 Dec 2010)
Former Saudi ambassador to Washington Prince Turki Al-Faisal Sunday felt that America's credibility and honesty have been seriously compromised following the recent publication of hundreds of confidential diplomatic cables.
Frankly, says the diplomat
(The Japan Times, 6 Dec 2010)
So does Wikileaks' publication of masses of secret and confidential reports from U.S. missions abroad really matter? The publication of these cables is certainly a major embarrassment for the U.S. State Department.
More Wikileaks: Public versus secret diplomacy in the 21st century
(Lalibre.be (Blog), 6 Dec 2010)
Let us remember that open and transparent diplomacy was the rallying cry of President Woodrow Wilson when he railed against the secret covenants of Europe's balance of power diplomacy...President Wilson offered us instead 'public diplomacy.'
Washington Fights to Rebuild Battered Reputation
(Der Spiegel, 6 Dec 2010)
Clinton, who has embarked on a damage-control trip around the world, sharply condemned the publication of the embassy cables by the website WikiLeaks, calling it a "very irresponsible, thoughtless act that put at risk the lives of innocent people all over the world."
Is the US losing Africa to China?
(The Voice of Russia, 9 Dec 2010)
The WikiLeaks cables have revealed that the US is closely monitoring China’s activity in Africa, which causes serious concern in American diplomatic circles. The growing flow of Chinese investments is one of the particular causes of concern. The fault with the Chinese is that they invest in African countries’ economies without interfering in their internal affairs, while Western powers put forward demands of “good governance”, whatever this may mean.
US cables expose clumsy Vatican diplomacy
(EU Observer, 13 Dec 2010)
Freshly-published cables from the US mission to the Vatican have shed light on the inner workings of Europe's most secretive diplomatic corps, including the Pope's opposition to Turkey's EU membership, hopes for Polish influence inside the EU and church ideas on how to undermine the Castro administration in Cuba.
Video Debate: Is WikiLeaks Good For The World?
(Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty , 17 Dec 2010)
American journalist Robert Wright is a prize-winning author of books about science, evolutionary psychology, history, and religion and is the co-founder of Bloggingheads.tv, a platform for dialogue.
'Can learn a great deal from India on harmony'
(The Hindu , 17 Dec 2010)
At a time when nations around the globe are losing ground to extremism, India’s tradition of tolerance and its management of a large and diverse society can be an important learning ground for the world, a U.S. cable from its New Delhi embassy said in 2006.
WikiLeaks 'unfortunate' for international diplomacy: Ban
(Hindustan Times, 18 Dec 2010)
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday the publication of leaked US diplomatic exchanges by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks is hurting diplomacy. "It is unfortunate that these confidential documents have been leaked," Ban said at a news conference in New York.
US looks up to Bollywood to help peace bids: WikiLeaks
(The Economic Times, 18 Dec 2010)
The US has been courting India's soft power in the form of Bollywood as part of its plans to help usher in peace in war-torn Afghanistan and also help promote anti-extremism messages among the large Asian diaspora across the globe.
Foreign secretary censures WikiLeaks disclosures
(The Times of India, 25 Dec 2010)
For the first time on Friday, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao made her disapproval of WikiLeaks -- the secret US cables that have been made public by the whistleblower website -- saying, "privileged communications" should remain like that. While launching the redesigned MEA and Public Diplomacy websites, Rao said there was a civilisational system that "we would all prefer to see the world operate in".
India takes a stand against WikiLeaks
(Daily News & Analysis, 27 Dec 2010)
There is the official Indian response to WikiLeaks at last. Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao has defended the confidentiality principle of diplomatic communication between ambassadors and the home government, while launching the new website of the publicity and public diplomacy wing for the ministry of external affairs on Saturday.
What the WikiLeaks affair tells us about communication
(Mail & Guardian Online, 27 Dec 2010)
What has changed, however — and this has made governments vulnerable to citizens’ legitimate criticism as never before (which is a good thing) — is that the sheer extent of potentially embarrassing and even “endangering” information that can be divulged by anyone motivated to do so...
Wikigov and Facebook Diplomacy
(New Europe, 3 Jan 2011)
When I came to Brussels just over three years now, European Politicians were not on Facebook, election ads were not made or broken by one’s twitter adeptness and no one in the European Commission had been told that any of these should be an option.
Wikileaks and Latin America: New Revelations, Same Policies
(World Policy Blog, 4 Jan 2011)
In one respect, media coverage of the WikiLeaks release of classified American cables has resembled American diplomacy itself: lots of attention paid to conflict zones (Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Gulf) and economic competitors (Europe, China), but not a whole lot of interest in less restive, less threatening locales. Latin America, for example.
Imitators create new WikiLeaks sites
(Global Post, 6 Jan 2011)
OpenLeaks, as it is called, is just one of many of web-based leaks organizations that has sprung up in recent months on the coattails of the famous original. A group of former European Union officials and journalists have launched BrusselsLeaks, focusing on the EU’s secrets. Then there are various geographical sites, such as IndoLeaks, BalkanLeaks, TuniLeaks and the Czech Republic’s PirateLeaks.
Hillary Clinton attacks release of US embassy cables
(The Guardian, 29 Nov 2010)
The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, today gave the administration's first public reaction to the leaking of thousands of confidential diplomatic documents, describing it as an attack not only on the US but the international community.
NATO condemns WikiLeaks
(Sky News, 1 Dec 2010)
NATO has condemned the release of confidential and secret diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, calling the site's actions 'irresponsible and dangerous'. The revelations include a report detailing the location of US tactical nuclear weapons among the NATO nations in Europe. NATO did not want to comment on any specific issue contained in the leaks, but criticised the site for releasing the cables.
WikiLeaks has caused little lasting damage, says US state department
(The Guardian, 19 Jan 2011)
The damage caused by the WikiLeaks controversy has caused little real and lasting damage to American diplomacy, senior state department officials have concluded. It emerged in private briefings to Congress by top diplomats that the fallout from the release of thousands of private diplomatic cables from all over the globe has not been especially bad.
Africa: What Continent Should Learn from WikiLeaks
(allAfrica.com, 26 Jan 2011)
It will probably take many years and even decades before the real lessons contained in these informative cables may be drawn. However, African governments and citizens should at least begin to reflect and learn preliminary but valuable lessons from the contents and the style of these informative cables.
New Zealands Three Strikes Law was Pushed, Bought and Paid for by the US – Wikileaks
(Zero Paid, 2 May 2011)
The slow trickle of leaked diplomatic cables from Wikileaks may not be in the headlines as much as it was when it started, but revelations keep pouring out of the website.
Wikileaks Cablegate Media Monitor Report
(, 17 May 2011)
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