The real threat from whistleblowers. Two George Washington University professors have published an article in the journal Foreign Affairs in which they surmise that the reason Washington prosecutes whistleblowers so harshly despite scant evidence of them having caused damage to national security is that, “they undermine Washington’s ability to act hypocritically and get away with it.”
The scholars continue,
Hypocrisy is central to Washington’s soft power — its ability to get other countries to accept the legitimacy of its actions — yet few Americans appreciate its role. Liberals tend to believe that other countries cooperate with the United States because American ideals are attractive and the U.S.-led international system is fair. Realists may be more cynical, yet if they think about Washington’s hypocrisy at all, they consider it irrelevant. For them, it is Washington’s cold, hard power, not its ideals, that encourages other countries to partner with the United States… This system needs the lubricating oil of hypocrisy to keep its gears turning.
While their overall assessment might not come as a shock to longtime supporters of Manning and Snowden, their in-depth analysis is still worth a read.
Manning continues to fill her stated goal to create public debate. Private Manning has stirred plenty of debate concerning US foreign policy and government transparency over the past three years. Since her announcement three months ago that she wishes to be known as Chelsea, she has also stirred considerable media debate concerning the issue of transgender rights. This week, the UK Guardian has published an article on the struggles experienced by the community of user-edited website Wikipedia, prompting Trans Media Watch to issue the following statement:
We would like to see Wikipedia demonstrate more self-awareness in its approach to social issues and more consistency in its treatment of cases like this. There are hundreds of pages on Wikipedia about notable people known by names other than their first names, yet we don’t see this kind of fuss made in relation to those about, say, George Osborne or Jodie Foster, or even other trans people like Chaz Bono, who was also well known to the public under a different name.
Read the full article here.
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