How WikiLeaks' new release will increase secrecy and damage democratic governments. - By Anne Applebaum - Slate Magazine

An excerpt from a timely reality check

In fact, the world's real secrets—the secrets of regimes where there is no free speech and tight control on all information—have yet to be revealed. This stuff is awkward and embarrassing, but it doesn't fundamentally change very much. How about a leak of Chinese diplomatic documents? Or Russian military cables? How about some stuff we don't actually know, like Iranian discussion of Iranian nuclear weapons, or North Korean plans for invasion of South Korea Korea? If WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange is serious about his pursuit of "Internet openness"—and if his goal isn't, in fact, embarrassing the United States—that's where he'll look next. Somehow, I won't be surprised if he doesn't.

How WikiLeaks' new release will increase secrecy and damage democratic governments. - By Anne Applebaum - Slate Magazine