Stratfor is a company based in Austin, Texas, that specializes in analyzing key political, economic, and military developments around the world. They just released a Geopolitical Weekly article focusing on the real significance of the WikiLeaks project revelations on world events.
The article is worth reading in its entirety for at least two reasons. First, George Friedman does an excellent job analyzing the significance of the material that has been leaked as well as the potential impact the leak will have on future diplomacy. I believe his analysis helps strip away the media hype to reveal the real significance of the cables.
Second, Friedman also demonstrates why confidentiality is necessary for all organizations, including government, to function. One quotation illustrates the clarity of his argument. "This is the contradiction at the heart of the WikiLeaks project. Given what I have read Assange saying, he seems to me to be an opponent of war and a supporter of peace. Yet what he did in leaking these documents, if the leaking did anything at all, is make diplomacy more difficult. It is not that it will lead to war by any means; it is simply that one cannot advocate negotiations and then demand that negotiators be denied confidentiality in which to conduct their negotiations. No business could do that, nor could any other institution. Note how vigorously WikiLeaks hides the inner workings of its own organization, from how it is funded to the people it employs."
Click on the link in the first paragraph to read the entire article. I believe it is the best overall analysis of the whole WikiLeaks controversy published to date.
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