The Duck of Minerva

I hope most of you following the Wikileaks story read Aaron Bady's essay at zunguzungu last week, in which he examines two early essays attributed to Julian Assange and provides his explanation of Assange's broader theory. It's a sophisticated read with at last glance 567 comments - the sort of blog post political theorists will (or should) assign to their graduate classes.I also think Bady makes some mistakes in his interpretation of Assange's essays - or at least glosses over some of the more disturbing implications in his zeal to paint Assange as smarter and less objectionable than might...

I've been asked over the past week to comment on Wikileaks in the press, primarily to answer the question "is Wikileaks good or bad?" It may seem like a silly way to frame the debate (and I'm grateful to Vikash especially for trying to move the debate forward) but that's where the media cycle remains. And it's a fair question for the media to be trying to sort out: the Wikileaks site (currently down) claims that “publishing improves transparency, and this transparency creates a better society for all people.” The site's critics excoriate him for violating the law and putting (variously)...

Wow. Iran's neighbors are threatened by its rise! Many governments think Pakistan may not be able to secure its nuclear arsenal! The US attempts to use its leverage with its allies to achieve its political objectives! China has engaged in a cyber-campaign against Google and other American companies! Yemen approves of US' targeted killings on its soil (but claims otherwise to quell domestic opposition)! Also, governments routinely spy on United Nations officials!Who knew all this stuff, eh? Thank the stars for Wikileaks.[cross-posted at Lawyers, Guns and Money]P.S. Want to know what I did...