3 ms·

Hard to get worked up over this one. Of course governments try to spy on other governments.

• vidarh 13y ago
  It's not surprising, but that doesn't mean that it's not worth getting worked up over, especially given that it is explicitly violating agreements to the contrary. In other words: Everyone else have now learned that when the US government enters into agreements like that, the agreement is worthless and they can't be trusted.
  • gojomo 13y ago
    A world where governments covertly spy on each other (even in violation of promises/treaties) is likely a nicer, safer, more peaceful world than the alternative. It's a form state-to-state transparency, helping states independently confirm either that another state's other statements and commitments are trustworthy, or not. State-vs-state spying makes bluffs, threats, and deception in international relations relatively harder, and helps prevent destabilizing surprises or betrayals. And I suspect all the major states understand this, and know any surface agreement not to covertly seek extra information (especially signals information) really just means, "we'll all just be really sneaky about it".