Capitolo 4
The Arab Spring and WikiLeaks' Catalytic Role
The WikiLeaks revelations provided unprecedented insight into US relationships with Middle Eastern dictatorships just as the Arab Spring erupted in 2011. The diplomatic cables exposed deep-seated corruption, human rights abuses, and institutional weaknesses across multiple regimes, serving as a crucial catalyst for popular uprisings. Cables exposing the corruption of Tunisia's ruling oligarchs, Egypt's military vulnerability, and Turkish leader Erdogan's hidden financial dealings gave substance to long-held popular grievances and transformed vague suspicions into documented facts.
In Tunisia, two diplomatic cables from Ambassador Robert Godec became widely available across the country after WikiLeaks released them. One described the Ben Ali family's grasping corruption in stark detail, noting that "seemingly half the Tunisian business community can claim a Ben Ali connection" and documenting how the family's business interests extended into nearly every profitable sector of the economy. The second cable characterized Tunisia as "a police state" with "serious human rights problems," detailing systematic suppression of political opposition and media censorship. When these cables leaked, the regime's panic was evident in its desperate attempts to block websites carrying the information. Within days of Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation protest, demonstrators took to the streets, frequently wielding printed copies of the WikiLeaks documents and chanting slogans that directly referenced the exposed corruption.
The impact in Egypt was equally significant, where cables revealed the regime's dangerous complacency before its eventual fall. Despite growing "bread riots" and economic hardship, high-ranking officials consistently dismissed the possibility of "widespread politically-motivated unrest," claiming it wasn't part of the "Egyptian mentality." The cables showed how the Mubarak regime believed only "threats to daily survival, not politics" could bring Egyptians to the streets en masse. This fundamental miscalculation, documented in diplomatic correspondence, proved fatal to Mubarak's 30-year rule. The cables also exposed the military's declining influence and the growing rift between the armed forces and Mubarak's inner circle, particularly regarding his plans for succession.
The revelations extended beyond individual countries, exposing regional patterns of corruption and authoritarianism. In Yemen, cables detailed President Saleh's manipulation of counterterrorism funds, while in Libya, they revealed Gaddafi family excesses and internal power struggles. These disclosures helped connect disparate protest movements across the region, creating a shared narrative of resistance against entrenched corruption and autocratic rule. The timing of the WikiLeaks releases, coinciding with rising economic hardship and social media's expanding reach, created a perfect storm that amplified their impact on the Arab Spring movements.
Capitolo 5
War Crimes and the Manipulation of Justice
The WikiLeaks files catalog American war crimes including bombing civilians, killing children and journalists, deploying "black" special forces units for extrajudicial killings, using banned cluster bombs, pressuring foreign judiciaries to protect CIA agents, conducting undeclared ground wars in Pakistan, and torturing detainees at Guantanamo.
The Guantanamo Files particularly reveal the deception behind claims that detainees were "the worst of the worst." Many prisoners were knowingly held despite posing no risk, including journalist Sami al-Hajj, who was classified as "HIGH intelligence value" and "HIGH risk" without evidence. His interrogations focused not on terrorism but on extracting information about Al Jazeera's operations - revealing how Guantanamo was used to target journalists.
Other cables expose the "FRAGO 242" protocol, which ordered US forces not to investigate Iraqi torture - partly because the US was training these forces in torture techniques. This institutionalized brutality included hooding, beatings, threats against family, stress positions, solitary confinement, rape, and medieval techniques like the strappado.
The cables also document America's extraordinary efforts to shield itself from international accountability. When the International Criminal Court was established in 2002, the Bush administration not only "unsigned" the Rome Statute but enacted the "Hague Invasion Act," authorizing the president to use "all means necessary" to free any US national detained by the ICC.
The documents reveal how the US used threats of sanctions and promises of rewards to coerce weaker states into signing bilateral immunity agreements exempting Americans from ICC jurisdiction. When countries refused, the US cut military aid and applied economic pressure. Sri Lanka was told signing quickly would win them attention among Washington officials, while Lesotho, struggling with an AIDS epidemic, was denied aid due to its "high profile" status as a non-signatory.
Capitolo 6
The Economics of Empire
Empire requires both military might and economic purpose. While America's military power attracts critical attention, it ultimately serves to maintain a system of states that facilitates market expansion. The WikiLeaks documents reveal there are no "free markets" without strong states enforcing rules that benefit powerful interests. This relationship between state power and markets becomes evident in diplomatic communications across multiple continents and economic sectors.
The cables expose how US ambassadors worldwide aggressively promoted GM crops as vital strategic interests, even lobbying the Vatican and the Pope for support. Diplomatic pressure was particularly intense in Africa and Latin America, where ambassadors threatened trade consequences for countries resistant to GM adoption. They reveal how the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, encompassing 40 percent of global GDP while excluding China, exemplified the "imperialism of free trade" - using American power to create market conditions favorable to US corporations. The TPP negotiations demonstrated how modern empire operates through complex trade agreements that establish rules benefiting dominant economic powers.
This economic dimension of empire sometimes succeeds where military efforts fail. In Vietnam, 25 years after America's military defeat, WikiLeaks cables show the US embassy celebrating Vietnam's incorporation into US-led globalization through WTO accession, market reforms, and IMF compliance. The cables detail how Vietnamese leadership gradually abandoned central planning in favor of market mechanisms, with US diplomats carefully cultivating relationships with reform-minded officials. Vietnam's socialist government ultimately embraced privatization after struggling to plan an economy in an integrated global marketplace dominated by US financial institutions. This transformation was achieved through persistent economic pressure rather than military force.
The cables reveal how the US used debt as a sophisticated weapon, with the IMF's classic trap ensuring that the more countries borrowed, the more dependent they became on markets controlled by Western financial institutions. Countries seeking IMF assistance were required to implement structural adjustment programs that typically included privatization of state enterprises, deregulation of markets, and opening to foreign investment. This economic leverage often proved more effective than military intervention in bringing resistant governments into line with American interests. The documents show how US diplomats coordinated with international financial institutions to maintain this system of economic influence across multiple regions.
This economic statecraft extends beyond individual countries to entire regions, with US embassies actively working to shape economic policies and trade relationships. The cables demonstrate how diplomatic missions operate as forward bases for American corporate interests, with ambassadors frequently acting as high-level business advocates while promoting a particular vision of economic development aligned with US strategic objectives.
Capitolo 7
Targeting Independent Governments
The WikiLeaks files document America's systematic efforts to undermine governments that challenge its hegemony. Venezuela appears in over 9,400 diplomatic cables - more than any Latin American country except Brazil (which has seven times Venezuela's population) and far more than Mexico or Argentina. This extraordinary attention reflects US determination to isolate Venezuela internationally and counter its regional influence, particularly during the Chavez era when Venezuela was actively promoting alternative economic and political models in Latin America.
A classified 2006 cable from Ambassador William Brownfield revealed the embassy's explicit five-point strategy: "1) Strengthening Democratic Institutions, 2) Penetrating Chavez' Political Base, 3) Dividing Chavismo, 4) Protecting Vital US business, and 5) Isolating Chavez internationally." Through USAID and the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), the US implemented this strategy while publicly claiming to seek "the best possible relations with all governments." The cables detail specific initiatives, including funding opposition groups, supporting anti-Chavez media outlets, and cultivating relationships with dissenting military officers. Between 2004 and 2006 alone, USAID's OTI Venezuela program had a budget exceeding $26 million.
Similar patterns emerge in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua, where US diplomats worked to undermine democratically elected governments that pursued independent policies. In Bolivia, after President Morales rejected an IMF agreement, cables show the US ambassador outlined a "carrots and sticks" approach including threats to veto IDB funding, postpone debt forgiveness, stop security assistance, and end trade benefits. The embassy actively supported opposition groups in Bolivia's eastern provinces and sought to exploit divisions between indigenous communities. In Ecuador, cables reveal coordination with private banks to pressure President Correa's government by threatening to withhold capital flows.
Even more disturbing, the cables reveal US strategies to destabilize the Syrian government years before the 2011 uprising. A December 2006 cable from William Roebuck, then charge d'affaires at the US embassy in Damascus, outlined explicit strategies for destabilizing the Syrian government by exploiting its "vulnerabilities." Roebuck suggested the US should "play on Sunni fears of Iranian influence" by coordinating with Egypt and Saudi Arabia to "better publicize and focus regional attention" on fears of Shia proselytizing and Iranian influence in Syria - fears he acknowledged were "often exaggerated." The cable also recommended exploiting Syrian economic vulnerabilities, encouraging opposition among business elites, and highlighting regime corruption to foster internal dissent.
The cables demonstrate a consistent pattern of intervention, showing how US embassies serve as operational centers for coordinating with opposition groups, managing economic pressure campaigns, and implementing strategies to weaken governments that pursue policies independent of Washington's preferences. This approach often contradicts public diplomatic statements about respecting sovereignty and supporting democratic processes.
Capitolo 8
The Militarization of Diplomacy
The WikiLeaks files provide extensive documentation of how deeply militarized American foreign policy has become, particularly in East Asia. The cables reveal a striking continuity between Bush and Obama administration policies, with both administrations actively working to undermine left-leaning governments while bolstering conservative, pro-American parties in South Korea and Japan. This approach stood in stark contrast to Obama's campaign rhetoric and Nobel Peace Prize-winning antiwar platform, demonstrating how institutional military priorities often override stated diplomatic goals.
The case of Japan provides a particularly telling example. When the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won their landmark 2009 election, it represented the first real transfer of power since 1955. The DPJ campaigned on bold promises to restructure the US-Japan security alliance and significantly reduce the American military footprint in Okinawa, where local residents had long protested the overwhelming presence of US bases. However, US diplomatic cables show officials systematically working to isolate and pressure Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government. They employed various tactics, from direct diplomatic pressure to cultivating opposition voices within Japan's political establishment and media. The controversy over the Futenma Marine base became a focal point, with American diplomats insisting on maintaining the facility despite strong local opposition and the democratic mandate for change.
In South Korea, the cables reveal a markedly different approach toward President Lee Myung-bak's conservative administration. A 2009 diplomatic assessment enthusiastically described US-Korean relations as being in a "sweet spot" under the "strongly pro-American president." The documents show American officials particularly appreciated Lee's hardline stance toward North Korea, praising him for placing the nuclear issue "firmly at the center of North-South relations." This marked a significant shift from the previous "Sunshine Policy" era, when South Korea had attempted to separate nuclear negotiations from broader inter-Korean engagement. The cables reveal how US diplomats actively encouraged this more confrontational approach, viewing it as better aligned with American strategic interests in the region.
The contrast between these two cases demonstrates how US military priorities often overshadowed other diplomatic considerations. In Japan, democratic choices that challenged military arrangements were actively resisted, while in South Korea, policies that aligned with US military objectives were strongly supported and reinforced. This pattern reveals a diplomatic approach heavily shaped by military considerations, even when this meant working against democratic processes in allied nations.
Capitolo 9
The Legacy of WikiLeaks
The WikiLeaks cables have fundamentally altered our understanding of how American power operates globally. They reveal an empire that maintains dominance not just through military force but through an intricate web of economic leverage, covert operations, diplomatic pressure, and the strategic manipulation of international institutions. From Latin America to the Middle East, the cables document a complex system of carrots and sticks used to maintain U.S. influence.
The documents expose the stark gap between America's public rhetoric about democracy and human rights and its private actions. While publicly championing democratic values, cables show U.S. officials privately supporting dictatorships in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere when it serves strategic interests. They reveal systematic efforts to undermine elected governments in Venezuela and Bolivia, shield American personnel from accountability for civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, and pressure the Spanish judiciary to drop investigations into U.S. war crimes.
The files detail how U.S. diplomats function as de facto corporate lobbyists, pressuring foreign governments to adopt policies favorable to American companies like Monsanto, Chevron, and pharmaceutical giants. Officials routinely threaten economic consequences for non-compliance with U.S. interests, from withholding aid to blocking IMF loans. The cables document coordinated campaigns to isolate and destabilize governments that challenge American hegemony, from Cuba to Iran.
Perhaps most importantly, the WikiLeaks files reveal the inner workings of empire with unprecedented granularity - the daily calculations, the strategic planning sessions, the moral compromises, and the ruthless pursuit of national interest that characterize great power politics. They show diplomats candidly discussing which dictators to prop up, which dissidents to support, and how to spin civilian casualties to minimize public relations damage. The cables expose how decisions that affect millions are often made based on cold strategic calculus rather than the humanitarian principles America publicly espouses.
By exposing these contradictions and making over 250,000 diplomatic cables public, WikiLeaks has performed an invaluable service in transparency. The releases allow citizens worldwide to see beyond carefully managed public relations to understand how empire actually functions in the 21st century. They reveal the machinery of power that operates behind closed doors, documenting everything from torture programs to economic strong-arming of smaller nations. As Julian Assange wrote in his introduction to these files, "If any country is to have a say in how the United States wields its power, it must have access to the plans and records of this power." The WikiLeaks cables provide exactly that - a detailed blueprint of how modern empire operates in practice rather than theory.
Capitolo 10
The Importance of Transparency in Global Affairs
The WikiLeaks revelations underscore the vital importance of transparency in international relations. When governments operate in secrecy, they often act in ways that violate their own stated principles and the interests of their citizens. The classification system that shields diplomatic communications from public view doesn't just protect sensitive information - it often conceals hypocrisy, corruption, and abuses of power.
The cables reveal a quasi-religious phenomenon surrounding national security, where classification markings function like "holy seals" that, when broken, transform documents into "forbidden objects" toxic to the 5.1 million Americans with security clearances. This creates a paradoxical situation where cleared staff are forbidden from reading publicly available documents they could legally access through classified channels, demonstrating how security classification functions as a form of religious indoctrination rather than practical information management.
By breaking through this veil of secrecy, WikiLeaks has made it possible for citizens around the world to understand how power actually operates in the international system. The documents provide an essential corrective to the sanitized narratives presented by governments and often uncritically repeated by mainstream media. They allow us to see the machinery of empire laid bare - the calculations, the compromises, the contradictions that shape our world but remain hidden from public view.
In doing so, WikiLeaks has performed the essential democratic function that journalism at its best aspires to: holding power accountable by exposing its workings to the light of day. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously wrote, "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants." The WikiLeaks files have brought much-needed sunlight to the darkest corners of American power, revealing truths that demand our attention and our action.
