Wikileaks shows the cynical nature of West diplomacy

Editor | Wednesday December 1, 2010 00:00

In a coup of sorts the website has managed to follow up its Afghanistan war log release with yet another trove of raw data.  We are aware of the debate surrounding the utility or lack of these revelations serves to the general public. We think publications like The Guardian newspaper of Britain and others have attempted to balance the interests of their own countries' national security concerns and the need for public access to such information in a way they saw fit.

We do not think anyone in our position could interrogate that. However, we have to add our voice to those supporters of the free flow of information who argue that it is vital that the public - and in this globalised village we mean every citizen of the world - has as much information at their disposal about how those in control of the levers of power utilise that power as possible. As power becomes even more centralised and powerful countries gain even more power, those in weaker countries and in the global South even more importantly need access to as much information as to the machinations behind the business of First World politics so as to understand how those who really have power in the world use that power.

While we are aware that what has been released so far is just a tip of the iceberg, we find the material to offer a very insightful view into how the world's only superpower works. We find that often, smaller countries are viewed as nothing but pawns to be used in the larger game that is the US own imperialist agenda. We find impunity, too, as exemplified by the US objective of tapping the United Nations (UN) officials. Multilateral organisations like the UN - at least to the majority of the world's population - offer the only viable avenue for credible and meaningful engagement with powerful nations.

An unadulterated view into how the US views the UN and wants to relate with it, must inform the powerless around the globe as to what values the US holds and what role it seeks to play in international affairs. It is for these reasons that we find these revelations very important.  Perhaps in other countries, with much more clout on the international scene, these revelations have a different meaning but to the people of the Third World this is invaluable information.

So what action do these revelations demand of us? This information and its meaning demands even more vigilance. We have to be more circumspect of the developed North's machinations. Our people should not take things at face value or fall victim to the sanitised version of world political events but should view every action with a critical eye. A more just world won't necessary come out of the benevolence of the First World but rather out of the hard work and vigilance of the Third World. That is all this new information presents. A challenge. And for that we are thankful.

                                                 Today's thought

                         'It is an attack on the international community'

                                                    -  Hillary Clinton