Tinker, Tailor, Snowden, Spy?
The secret NSA surveillance programs exposed by the former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden highlighted the West’s long-ignored failure to strike a principled balance between security and liberty. Now, with their credibility seriously undermined, Western leaders must ask themselves whether the ends justify the means.
MOSCOW – A worldwide media frenzy has turned the plight of the rogue American intelligence analyst Edward Snowden into something resembling a John le Carré novel, full of suspense and intrigue. Whose spy is he? Who will grant him asylum? Will he be able to outmaneuver the National Security Agency as it attempts to force him to return to the United States to stand trial on charges of theft and espionage? And what will US President Barack Obama say to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, at their scheduled meeting in Moscow – where Snowden is currently taking refuge at Sheremetyevo Airport – this September?
MOSCOW – A worldwide media frenzy has turned the plight of the rogue American intelligence analyst Edward Snowden into something resembling a John le Carré novel, full of suspense and intrigue. Whose spy is he? Who will grant him asylum? Will he be able to outmaneuver the National Security Agency as it attempts to force him to return to the United States to stand trial on charges of theft and espionage? And what will US President Barack Obama say to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, at their scheduled meeting in Moscow – where Snowden is currently taking refuge at Sheremetyevo Airport – this September?