Originally published on the CGS blog on November 2, 2013.
One of the new facets of the continuing fallout from Edward Snowden’s NSA document leaks this summer is the revelation that U.S. intelligence services have been spying on allies in Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for example, has apparently had her personal cell phone under surveillance since 2002, even though this surveillance, and the surveillance of other leaders, has produced “little reportable intelligence.” Considering that the NSA collected millions of European phone records, outrage by European citizens is legitimate. The outrage by European leaders like Merkel, however, is somewhat disingenuous and more a function of “optics” than genuine surprise.
The United Kingdom has recently come under fire for spying on its allies. Canada and Australia have also been implicated in helping the United States to collect intelligence on allies through their foreign embassies. Again, unsurprising as the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have had an intelligence sharing alliance since World War II. These nations belong to an alliance known as Five Eyes. And while they may not spy on each other, they certainly help one another spy on others. Israeli leaders expect to be surveilled by the United States despite the two nations’ close alliance. Clearly, given the world of real-politik that we live in, the surprise is not that the United States was spying on its allies; it is that it got caught.
According to Brigham A. McCown at Forbes.com: “At issue is whether the NSA’s spy program is a necessary evil to protect the country against foreign attack, or whether the program is so out of control that is knows no bounds, and heeds no law.” It appears abundantly clear that the latter is the case. U.S. intelligence agencies spy domestically on American citizens, on numerous allied nations, and of course on so-called “enemy” nations. It seems nowhere is safe from this expansive system of surveillance.
Amos Harel recently wrote on Haaretz.com that “now that its activity [U.S. surveillance of allies] has been exposed, the U.S. cannot play innocent. Its friends know what it is doing behind their backs. The era of hypocrisy is over.” Unfortunately, I do not share Mr. Harel’s optimism. This incident will likely have few repercussions for the United States and it will certainly not stop such hypocritical actions. The NSA is already shifting blame away from itself and onto the intelligence agencies of the nations on which it is accused of spying. Also consider a forthcoming UN resolution condemning illegal electronic surveillance that fails to condemn specifically this rampant behavior by the United States. However, the revelations may spur U.S. intelligence services to cover their tracks better.
This continuation of Cold War policies of paranoia treats every other nation as a potential enemy and will only serve to create enemies, even where none existed before. Dialog and diplomacy done in the light would serve everyone better than spying and intrigue done in the dark.
