Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 04 NOVEMBER 2013

Espionage And Allies

Steptoe LLP
Steptoe LLP
Contributor
Steptoe LLP

Steptoe LLP

Steptoe International (UK) LLP has built a strong reputation for providing top-quality regulatory,...

View firm profile
Explore more from Steptoe LLP

I contributed a short piece to the New York Times on the latest Snowden-generated flap over allegations that NSA targeted Angela Merkel’s mobile phone.

United StatesGovernment, Public Sector

I contributed a short piece to the New York Times on the latest Snowden-generated flap over allegations that NSA targeted Angela Merkel's mobile phone. Excerpts:

To play the role it has played in the world for the last 70 years, the United States must be able to gather intelligence anywhere in the world with little or no notice. We never know where the next crisis will erupt, where the next unhappy surprise is coming from. It's the intelligence community's job to respond to today's crises, but its agencies live in a world where intelligence operations take years to yield success. That makes it a little hard – and very dangerous — to create "intelligence-free zones." ...

Even the countries we usually see as friends sometimes take actions that quite deliberately harm the United States and its interests. Ten years ago, when the U.S. went to war with Iraq, France and Germany were not our allies. They were not even neutral. They actively worked with Russia and China

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

See more popular content from