Overseas Intervention

28/10/2013

Now You Hear Me, Now You Don't !

Shock, horror, apparently, as we have just learnt from recent revelations by whistle blower Snowden that the US ' intel services' actually spy on people, moreover, they spy on their allies and friends - UK, France, Germany and now Spain. Chancellor Merkel is not happy, President Hollande is unamused, while Premier Cameron is just plain bemused. Surely, did the international community really believe that the US spend billions every year on cutting edge computerised listening systems that then closes its ears to conversations had by close political relations? After all every nation-state is potentially a rival if not a threat to American hegemony. However, what this recent exposure has reopened is the debate about the notions of personal freedom; the opportunity to contact people and converse in private without that communication being intercepted, identified and interfered with. Moreover, that the substance of this conversation remains secure - freedom from oppression, freedom to express oneself. What the NSA has developed thanks to huge technological leaps is just a more sophisticated, super sensitive, mega quick version of listening systems that have been with us ever since the Second World War. Consequently, this present level of intrusion has been around for at least a decade, all that has changed is that we have just woken up to the fact. In justification, 'Everybody spies on everybody' has become the current cliché, but is that true? Is it legal? Is it ethical? Is it essential?

Firstly, some context, if you compare the NSA's reach, in other words, their facility and ability to collect meta-data and to tap into more detailed and more focused surveillance with other nations intel systems then it is like placing bows and arrows next to ICBM's - the NSA out guns all other similar facilities many, many times over. Since, providing protection for American interests not only includes the obvious economic, commercial and financial assets it also covers scientific, military research and development. Moreover, the UK's equivalent to the NSA - GCHQ - offers a helping hand by being connected to the NSA; providing an essential link for European intel into Washington, Why? Because in return the US passes on certain elements of intel to London plus it assists with the ongoing development of GCHQ via the latest software and computer upgrades. This is indeed where the 'special relationship' is truly special. This is all operated under that all incorporating banner of nation-state security.
Hence, ethics and the essential nature of this behaviour is not really considered since justification is always driven by that overriding sense of the need to 'be safe'. But from what? Maybe it is from the very same 'intel agencies' that have developed their own sense of rationality and reasoning that often equates, paradoxically, to a process of constantly being listened to, whilst, ultimately, no one taking account of what we say or mean. This indeed is an extension of post modernity - nothing really matters but the 'hear' and now.

KK

3 Comments

Dimitri Neyt link

30/10/2013 02:22:24 am

Safety, to me, seems to be a mere 'banner' to carry out far-reaching measures increasing state control. The Patriot Act, the NSA spying... all implemented to increase 'safety,' while we could just as well see these actions as a process of 'optimizing' government and its control over its citizens and corporations. While optimization serves US interests - an efficient bureaucracy is part of what made the US the world's economic hegemony by 1945, after all - the Americans must certainly ask themselves whether this loss of quality of life, which I certainly think it is, makes up for what is gained. What is gained after all? Will such measures preserve the power America has been losing for the past decades? And as you pointed out, professor, there seems to be no concern for ethics... Would the US not rather be a competent, un-hegemonic player in the interstate system, than to alienate and intrude on its citizens and allies to preserve what seems to be eroding by those very acts?

Jens Vermeulen

31/10/2013 02:20:01 am

For me, it ultimately all comes down to this information rich society that we live in. Espionage dates back to the early days of history and it is naïve to think that it will one day seize to exist. The major evolutions, however, that we have witnessed in recent times are globalization, the arrival of the internet and growing importance of technology. All in all, the system that we use today is still in its infancy stage and as in all new undertakings, there are flaws. These flaws facilitated espionage, hence the surge in activity. Another consequence of these flaws is that a lot of information out there is up for grabs. Even the more secretive documents can be accessed pretty easily. Assuming that the lack of ethics and moral remains, vulnerability is the main concern in this whole story. We can try to reduce this vulnerability by investing in people’s education and come up with new ways to increase the cyber security. In the end, however, I think that we will have to learn to live with the knowledge that somebody, at any given time, can be watching at what we are doing. This is a sobering thought, but it is nothing new. We are just more aware of it than we used to be. Some innovations might be able to restore a bit of security, but it will never be the same as in the past. I guess that this is the price that we all have to pay for our way of life.

Eveline Versluys

31/10/2013 07:21:02 pm

I think the real issue is that European leaders are afraid to– or simply don’t want to- take action against NSA espionage. They grunt, they give vague interviews saying they’re “not amused” and they officially declare they “want the truth”(dixit, German Chancellor Merkel). Well, here’s the truth Angela: almost all governments conduct espionage operations against enemies ànd friends but it now just happens to all come to light. European leaders refuse to take drastic measures because they a) can’t criticize another nation-state’s surveillance program without having to look into their own and b) they don’t know what the consequences would be for their own country and economy if they would take measures against such an economic powerhouse as the US. Humor me for a second here, if Merkel’s phone had been hacked by some loner living in a small suburb of Munich, he would have long been arrested by now. Obama and the NSA on the other hand just get an angry phone call and some vague reprimands.

Furthermore, I was really annoyed with the fact that the European summit was completely overshadowed by the NSA spying allegations. Politicians were practically pushing each other aside so they could speak their minds on camera, while at the same time the really urgent issue that needed to be discussed during the summit was completely neglected. One of the main topics at the European summit should have been immigration and the critical situations in Southern Europe, but because of all the hacking drama the politicians never reached the required concrete solution. Hundreds of refugees drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean sea, but the tragic situation on Lampedusa is apparently less urgent than a bugged phone or the fact that the Chancellor arrived in a car with an “007” license plate.

My biggest frustration, however, is that people who are critical of the government are immediately seen as an enemy of the state. Freedom of the Press is restricted and whistleblowers are no longer safe. Unless spending months in a Russian airport sounds like fun, people will no longer dare to uncover the truth, because they’re too scared of the repercussions. Prime minister Cameron urged the Guardian to stop publishing stories based on data leaked by Snowden, because he wants journalists to realize how “damaging some of these things can be.” Although Cameron is not entirely wrong to say that, I do believe pre-censorship would be as damaging –or even more damaging- than publishing the truth.

Overseas Intervention

Now You Hear Me, Now You Don't !

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