WikiLeaks and the Fall of America

The material disclosed by the WikiLeaks website is particularly helping the media to blow things out of proportion. This isn’t good because,e getting excited about lifestyle related affairs and the opinions of politicians about one another diverts attention from much more serious matters. Julian Assange does not want to talk too much about how his website operates. But the mere fact that WikiLeaks has been operating for four years, hiring people and taking advantage of IT infrastructure, calls into question whether it is a completely independent operation, or whether it is supported by forces who are satisfied by disclosing compromising information.

The history of independent movements from the 1970s and ’80s teaches us that, sometimes, noble mottoes and courageous actions were inspired by other, less noble, but still just as effective intelligence services. It is appropriate to recall the impact that the East German STASI (Ministry of State Security) had on West German politics, or to what extent the progressive Italian left parties had been infiltrated by Soviet intelligence. Following this path, we should consider who today could reap the benefits from WikiLeaks publications. Isn’t China the main beneficiary of American diplomacy being publicly shamed?

Julian Assange compromised American diplomacy twice. First, it turned out that the superpower’s reputation may be tarnished by anyone who manages to disrupt the system that secures the flow of information in the State Department. The young American sergeant has not done anything extraordinary. Loading a CD into your computer and copying the data does not require a hacker. It turned out that the information was practically unprotected. This means that those at fault were not able to determine and predict all the threats. The other embarrassment is that diplomatic communication, which was revealed by WikiLeaks and newspapers, confirms that diplomacy is an integral part of intelligence. Although we have known this all along, no one has confirmed it publicly. Now, thanks to WikiLeaks, American diplomats ”confirmed” this — as it turns out, they were even going to spy on … U.N. officials.

The political rivals of the U.S. — Russia and China — were granted a gift on a platter from Assange in the form of American diplomatic methods. American allies found out how politicians from overseas exploit them for other ends. WikiLeaks also revealed the current weaknesses of the United States, which have been discussed for some time now. Osama bin Laden still remaining at large, the never-ending civil war in Afghanistan and the economic crisis are just some of the disasters that the U.S. has recently suffered. Now we can add embarrassing itself in front of the whole world to the list.

Is the United States a colossus? Even if it still is one, there is no doubt that its clay feet are starting to crumble. Perhaps looking at Beijing is making the U.S. increasingly nervous.