How different would the world be if US foreign policy were always wikileaks transparent?

[BurtWorm]

I think the answer to that question will become manifest in due time. What if wikileaked and nothing bad happened?

[Ian David]

1. Remember that episode of Gilligan's Island when everyone got telepathy? n/t

[BurtWorm]

2. Yes, but I can't remember what happened to them because of it.

But this is, of course, rather like exposing the mind of the US State Department (and their counterparts in other parts of the world). And I haven't really heard anything terrible coming out of it. Does Iran not know how the Sunni nations feel about it? Do the people of Saudi Arabia not know? Is North Korea ignorant of China's estrangement? I doubt all of the above. I wonder if Iran would behave differently if Israel's preparedness to attack its nuclear sites weren't on the table for all to see (instead of made believe to be on a very short leash).

[Agony]

3. IOW, how many people would be alive today if WikiLeaks was the status quo?

stop asking "how many lives are at risk because of WikiLeaks", without asking "how many people have died because of secret agreements"

[BurtWorm]

4. exactly.

[stray cat]

5. Wire tapping should be legal to promote transparency between all

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. Well, for one thing, the Nazis would probably have won WW2...

Come to that, the British would probably have won the War of Independence/American Revolution...

[Abq_Sarah]

7. That's going to go over some heads.

[BurtWorm]

10. Truly impossible to say on either score.

We don't know what an utterly transparent foreign policy would be like because it's never been tried. Not likely to be tried either, unless because of the nature of power. Unless wikileaks forces a change, which it probably won't.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

12. If it were tried unilaterally it would place the trier at a massive disadvantage. N.T.

[BurtWorm]

13. The US is not going to be trying it any time soon.

But wikileaks, as I say, may bring the trial date a little sooner.

There's a spectrum of secrecy. The Cheney-Bush regime is closer to the Kim Jung Il/Saddam Hussein side of the spectrum, in which no one is trusted with any information. In my opinion, the US needs to find a more intelligent approach to secrecy, one that doesn't invite massive corruption at the top.

[LostInAnomie]

8. Yep, everyone should have known about the Manhattan Project.

We should also know the names and locations of all our CIA agents all over the world.

[BurtWorm]

11. If there were utter transparency, there'd be no need for CIA agents all over the world.

As for the Manhattan Project, is there any power in the world today that you think the US should be working in top secret to annihilate or ultimately to threaten with annihilation?

[jwirr]

9. At the very least the leaders would be more careful about both their

words and their actions. There would be more honesty. If you know what you are doing can become transparent it will make you more accountable. I realize that there are times when negotiations need to be kept hidden but what we have with the government agencies is often secrecy for many years. If we the people could see what actions are taken once the issue is not a hot button it would make this whole system work better. We would be more honest both in our dealings with each other and with the rest of the world.