Beginning on a Hopeful note?

We interrupt your Wikileaks coverage to bring you this late breaking story:

Secretary Clinton, while attending a Gulf Security Conference in Bahrain, spoke at length about the upcoming P5+1 talks. Two things were unique about the speech. Firstly that it focused heavily on engaging Iran, something that we heard a lot about in the campaign but very little since. She even acknowledged their right to a peaceful nuclear program, something we've heard before but not nearly often enough. And Secondly, the Iranians she was speaking to were in the room with her. Direct communication between the U.S. and Iran is almost unheard of, to the point where most of our negotiations are done through the Swiss or the Pakistanis. Not only was an Iranian delegation in the same room, but it was led by none other than Manouchehr Mottaki Iran's Foreign Minister. His presence as the same conference as Secretary Clinton was almost certainly no accident.

It will probably as yet come to nothing, but it does seem as good a sign for next weeks negotiations as we could ask for.

Best posts I've read

As promised here are some of the best posts I've read on the wikileaks scandal. I chose to highlight those who aren't simply (like so much of the media) focusing on the gossip of the leaks, but hard substance instead. First up is...

• the Democracy in American blog by The Economist. The writer W.W. points out what so many reports have missed, that this story isn't about Mr. Assange or the specific info dump, its about the new status qoe. The ability now exists to take actions like this, and though Mr. Assange and his Wikileaks organization have been exceptionally clever in their execution, the capacity is within the hands of near anyone. What will our politics, our society, and our institutions look like in such a world?

• Steve Levine's Oil and Glory blog. His post is nothing if not entertaining, apparently many of the foreign service officers he knows are enjoying having the limelight. Finally the world can recognize their genius. In a world where losing yourself a senate race or even losing yourself from your own wedding are enough to land you book deals It wouldn't surprise me if this leak ended in meal tickets for a few diplomats.

This post will be updated as find more I want to share.

Hero of the Week: Robert Gates

I'm already a big fan of Defense Secretary Gates for his attempts to cut useless and expensive programs (boondoggles) at the Pentagon and his lobbying on behalf of State and USAID but the quotes he's delivered on the wikileaks controversy quite simply made my day. Said Robert Gates when asked about Wikileaks publication of secret diplomatic cables:

    "Every other government in the world knows the United States government leaks like a sieve, and it has for a long time...  

     When we went to real congressional oversight of intelligence in the mid-'70s, there was a broad view that no other foreign intelligence service would ever share information with us again if we were going to share it all with the Congress.  Those fears all proved unfounded.  

     Now, I've heard the impact of these releases on our foreign policy described as a meltdown, as a game-changer, and so on.  I think -- I think those descriptions are fairly significantly overwrought. The fact is, governments deal with the United States because it's in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us, and not because they believe we can keep secrets... 

     Is this embarrassing?  Yes.  Is it awkward?  Yes.  Consequences for U.S. foreign policy?  I think fairly modest."

Favorite. Sec Def. Ever. 
Both his candor and sense of proportion are well appreciated. Two virtues I'd like to see more in our public discourse. Secretary Gates delivered these remarks at a press conference for DADT repeal and its worth reading for its intended content alone but these wikileaks quotes are priceless. The transcript of the press conference can be found here.

Bandwagoning with Bloggers

I haven't had much time lately to weigh in on the newest wikileaks disclosures, or for blogging in general, and I felt it was well time I did so. In the coming week I'll take some time out of my busy schedule (I'm in the middle of trying to get a paper published) to bring you some commentary on this evolving situation.

Look for: An analysis of several specific cables. Analysis of how the U.S. Government is handling the situation. And of course shout outs to the best pieces I've found on the leak and its impact.

If there are any blogs, op-eds, or other writings that you think are good share a link in the comments.


Updated: New Wikileaks posts

• Hero of the Week: Robert Gates
• Best Posts I've Read