Wikileaks Legacy

Leaking of sensitive documents is not new, however, the extent of the leaks due to modern technology makes them have much more punch.  Thought you'd be interested in reading the following story released by Duke University.......

Wikileaks Legacy
By Jackie Ogburn

The Wikileaks release of classified diplomatic cables may have the same influence that the Pentagon Papers did four decades ago, said a panel of Duke faculty Tuesday.

"There is an arc between the Pentagon Papers and Wikileaks, each beginning a new age of information," said Philip Bennett, professor of journalism and public policy and former managing editor of The Washington Post. "The release of the Pentagon Papers led to a new period in the relationship of the government and the press. WikiLeaks may do the same."

Four Duke professors spoke at the Sanford School of Public Policy Tuesday amid the breaking news of the arrest of WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange on charges of sexual assault. The panel attracted a crowd of students, faculty and community members that filled a classroom and an adjacent overflow room.

Panelists included Bennett, Peter Feaver, professor of political science and public policy and member of the National Security Council during the Bush administration, and Ambassador Patrick Duddy, Latin American specialist with the State Department and U.S. Diplomat in Residence at Duke. Vice Provost of International Affairs Gilbert Merkx served as moderator.

On Nov. 28, WikiLeaks posted 220 documents on its website, the first of a cache of more than 250,000 documents of confidential American diplomatic cables. More cables had been made available to mainstream news outlets, including The New York Times and The Guardian.

Publication of leaked classified material is not new, the panelists said. For example, journalist Bob Woodward ferrets out White House secrets and gets a book contract, with no aggressive investigation into those leaks, even though some of the information revealed in his book might be of a higher classification than the diplomatic cables.

However, WikiLeaks presents a new way for secrets to enter the public domain, Bennett said. It has an anonymous online drop-box, which can serve to shield the leaker's identity. In the past, a leaker's identity was at least known to the reporter to whom he divulged classified information. WikiLeaks has suffered from denial of service attacks and the arrest of its founder.

Bennett believes there are at least two different stories, one of the content released and another about how the leaks are distributed and the response to the methodology. Not all media had initial access to the documents, which influenced how they focused their reporting.

"There are three elements in WikiLeaks not found in the Pentagon Papers," Bennett said. "WikiLeaks are international, decentralized and deinstitutionalized. They are by individual actors that are difficult to control."

Ambassador Duddy's point of view reflected his career in diplomacy.

"Someone with access and authorization to see the materials downloaded them and passed them to an unauthorized person. That is a criminal act." He sees the release as damaging to the practice of diplomacy, which depends on candid reporting from the field. "The cables themselves are contributions to the conversation, not policy, which enrich the thinking of the policy makers."

Duddy's concern is that "publicizing of these private conversations hurts the confidence and safety of those who speak to us. For those for whom speaking to us at all is a risk, to expose them seems profoundly irresponsible." It will make diplomacy harder in the future.

The cables do underscore that the current administration has a robust international diplomacy, and is intending to deal with the difficulties laid at its doorstep. Duddy said that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reached out to foreign leaders on this matter, although reportedly she was told, "You should hear what we say about you."

"I divide the impact of the WikiLeaks into the good, the bad and the ugly," said Feaver. "It is good for Julian Assange, as it glorifies him and he sees himself as a hero. It is also good for scholars, at least those who don't want to go into government, as they have access to the information 20 years early. It's good for Israel, as if proves what they have been saying, that what Arab leaders say to the West is different from what they say to the street."

Feaver characterized the leaks as bad for diplomacy and also for the Obama administration, because "it happened on his watch." It revealed a lack of "message discipline" between the State Department and the Department of Defense, and the Department of Justice has been slow to respond.

"It's also not so good for the mainstream media," Feaver asserted. "Like Matt Drudge, WikiLeaks can bypass the mainstream media." Bennett disagreed, saying that reporters and experts are needed to interpret the information and put it in context. In additional, traditional media do consult with the White House and consider the risk of damage to national security.

For the ugly, Feaver said further leaks will be hard to prevent because of technology. The system is vulnerable because of changes to prevent stove-piping of information after 9/11. He also saw the action of the U.S. government forbidding employees from going to the WikiLeaks website as part of the ugly. "It's not so good for Assange, with his arrest and attacks on the site by other vigilantes. We're entering an uglier phase of the story," he said.

The event was sponsored by the Duke University Center for International Studies, (DUCIS) along with the DeWitt Wallace Foundation for Media and Democracy, Duke University's American Grand Strategy Program and the Triangle Institute for Security Studies.

Will You Pay by US Dollars or Wocu?

Does this bother anyone else? This little new world currency was introduced on September 10, 2009. What will it mean for us? How soon will we be asked to pay in Wocu since the US Dollar is devalued so much due to overprinting by the current administration?

Just wondering..

New World Currency Introduction

/PRNewswire/ -- This week the world's financial markets will see the first ever execution and settlement of a trade conducted in Wocus(TM) (World Currency Unit), the newly-introduced world currency. The Wocu has been developed as a derived world currency unit to allow corporations, financial institutions, governments and even individuals to trade across national boundaries and hold foreign assets with minimal risk of losses caused by exchange rate fluctuations.

Whilst international trade is conducted in US dollars or Euros a sharp change in exchange rates causes huge differentials, vastly complicating risk management and forward planning. With the emergence of Russia, China and India into the world markets a less volatile world currency is needed. As the Wocu is a derivative of the exchange rates of the world's top 20 currencies as measured by GDP it substantially reduces the risk factors. WDX Organisation, the company behind the Wocu, has weighted its algorithm in line with these GDPs, creating a demonstrably less volatile and totally apolitical currency unit.

Howard Flight, fund manager, consultant, politician and author of 'ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EXCHANGE RATES' was the keynote speaker at the launch. He said: "I expect this to be an important moment for the history of currency - a new currency reference is being born which should be very useful for both major buyers and sellers of world commodities." He adds: "The questions are as to who will use it? WDX commercial arrangements are lining up major banks to both trade in and settle international trade transactions on behalf of corporate clients in Wocus. Banks and InterDealer Brokers will also trade Wocu derivatives for clients. It is surprising the IMF has not modernised the SDR, which new technology would enable. The Wocu does just that".

How does the Wocu differ from the IMF's SDR? The SDR, while a valuable tool, is based on 4 currencies and re-weighted only every 5 years, unlike the Wocu which is re-weighted by an independent institute every six months (when the IMF releases its GDP figures).

Michael King, WDX managing director, said: "Market participants and academics are telling us that the Wocu will be well-received. We are offering organisations, governments, and, through them, individuals, a new instrument of great elegance and power. Its use will herald less risk, less volatility and more certainty. Some even see it as the answer to the reserve currency issue. I am delighted that the Wocu, the result of much academic research and technical development, is now a reality."

Flight comments: "Corporate Treasurers and ACT members really like the Wocu concept as it reduces volatility and exchange rate risk and the concept of the Wocu is happily straightforward."