Snowden Affair Indicative of A New Cold War

The news surrounding the flight of Edward Snowden, the American computer scientist responsible for leaks about the cybersurveillance program PRISM, gives us a glimpse into a latent new Cold War about to make its debut on the world stage.

The hype surrounding his fate in Russian and Chinese propaganda signals a new rivalry with Washington on the one hand and between Moscow and Beijing on the other. This rivalry is reminiscent of incidents dating back to the original confrontation between the Soviet Union and the “free world.”

In openly siding with Snowden and allowing him to stop over in Moscow after he fled Hong Kong to escape extradition to Washington, Putin’s Russia is staking its claim against Washington in this ideological battle. Perhaps Putin, a former KGB agent, was inspired by the humiliation inflicted on the United States by his predecessor, Nikita Khrushchev, after a U-2 spy plane was shot down over Russia in 1960 and pilot Gary Powers was captured by the Soviets.

Snowden is regarded as a hero in Russia and China, yet neither country is a paragon of a defender of individual liberties. Supporting Snowden allows them to dodge the cyberespionage accusations that are addressed at them. In Russia’s case, the country’s support of Snowden adds to the accumulation of irritants between Washington and Moscow, the most serious of which is Putin’s insistence on making the Syrian conflict a source of further rivalry between Russia and the West.

The Snowden affair illustrates that Russia and China are seeking to gain a foothold in the ideology of “soft power,” an ideology in which the West remains preeminent. As for Snowden himself, his motive was the defense of democratic freedom. The fact that he is now escaping the law of a “rule of law” country by seeking refuge in authoritarian countries, themselves unconcerned with meeting the standards he advocates, does not support his position. Snowden is thus becoming a pawn in the new Cold War game being played today.