IN the flood of dramatic diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, there is a disturbing message for politicians, officials and authorities around the world: They've lost the hearts and minds of their people. Many citizens simply don't trust their own governments very much any more. From Australia to Azerbaijan and all the way to America, ordinary people are deeply uncomfortable with the apparatus of state that now rules our lives.
Secrecy, interference, surveillance, espionage: We might love it at the movies, but not so much in real life.
That is the real reason WikiLeaks has attracted such massive global support -- not just from the so-called celebrity intelligentsia, but from ordinary members of society with no real previous interest in geo-politics.
This unlikely crew of rebel freedom fighters, led by Queensland-born computer hacker and self-styled "journalist" Julian Assange, is not particularly likeable in its own right. The WikiLeakers are deeply involved in their own spy games. Assange cast himself as the star of an international thriller and misses no opportunity to shout long and loud about freedom and justice.
But look beyond the theatrics for a moment and it is plain the WikiLeaks story is about something much bigger: a new 21st century mood of deep cynicism about the role of governments in all of our lives.
Think back to the height of the Cold War, when super-secret cables were whipping around the world, documenting the terrifying standoff between east and west. Most people accepted the need for governments to keep secrets, gather intelligence and do whatever it took to forestall any nuclear confrontation.
Back then a leak like this -- more than 250,000 secret and highly embarrassing US cables -- would have caused worldwide shock and disapproval. Anyone releasing classified diplomatic communiques would be widely regarded as not just devious and daring but a danger to human existence. A Julian Assange of that era could have been whisked away to some covert Central Intelligence Agency facility without much fuss at all.
Times have changed. Today, we are deeply sceptical about the agencies that dominate our lives. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the world has witnessed a comprehensive cracking of the edifice of state. Intelligence agencies such as the CIA, MI-6, Mossad, even ASIO, have utterly lost public confidence -- exposed for their incompetence, bungling, brutality and ruthlessness. In the scramble to invade Iraq, we saw governments conspiring to doctor evidence, ignore international law and disregard human rights.
WikiLeaks and Assange embarrassed the US and many more governments besides and ride the wave of public disillusionment. Smart politicians will heed the warning and consider how to restore lost confidence.
Secrecy, interference, surveillance, espionage: We might love it at the movies, but not so much in real life.
That is the real reason WikiLeaks has attracted such massive global support -- not just from the so-called celebrity intelligentsia, but from ordinary members of society with no real previous interest in geo-politics.
This unlikely crew of rebel freedom fighters, led by Queensland-born computer hacker and self-styled "journalist" Julian Assange, is not particularly likeable in its own right. The WikiLeakers are deeply involved in their own spy games. Assange cast himself as the star of an international thriller and misses no opportunity to shout long and loud about freedom and justice.
But look beyond the theatrics for a moment and it is plain the WikiLeaks story is about something much bigger: a new 21st century mood of deep cynicism about the role of governments in all of our lives.
Think back to the height of the Cold War, when super-secret cables were whipping around the world, documenting the terrifying standoff between east and west. Most people accepted the need for governments to keep secrets, gather intelligence and do whatever it took to forestall any nuclear confrontation.
Back then a leak like this -- more than 250,000 secret and highly embarrassing US cables -- would have caused worldwide shock and disapproval. Anyone releasing classified diplomatic communiques would be widely regarded as not just devious and daring but a danger to human existence. A Julian Assange of that era could have been whisked away to some covert Central Intelligence Agency facility without much fuss at all.
Times have changed. Today, we are deeply sceptical about the agencies that dominate our lives. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the world has witnessed a comprehensive cracking of the edifice of state. Intelligence agencies such as the CIA, MI-6, Mossad, even ASIO, have utterly lost public confidence -- exposed for their incompetence, bungling, brutality and ruthlessness. In the scramble to invade Iraq, we saw governments conspiring to doctor evidence, ignore international law and disregard human rights.
WikiLeaks and Assange embarrassed the US and many more governments besides and ride the wave of public disillusionment. Smart politicians will heed the warning and consider how to restore lost confidence.
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