Christopher Walker: Leaks give an insight into how the US sees the world

THE relentless release which began this week by WikiLeaks, the whistleblowing website, of the embarrassing contents of a staggering 251,287 US embassy cables has had ramifications in almost every corner of the globe.

It is a process certain to continue, and with unknown results, as the publication of diplomatically explosive documents continues over the coming months.

The supposedly secret files include cables dated as recently as February and originate from 274 US embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions. One immediate result is likely to be a severe tightening of security covering internal US government communications. This had been deliberately relaxed after 9/11 because it was felt that failure of contacts between various agencies had contributed to the terrorists' success.

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Another certain result of the leaks will be an altering in the international perception of the US and a reluctance by other governments to share their feelings and aspirations with US diplomats. It was, said one critic, just as if your friends had caught you out in a private conversation mercilessly slagging them off behind their backs.

The leaks, while providing an Aladdin's cave for historians and journalists (a number of newspapers came to deals with WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief, Julian Assange) showed that America is almost as distrustful of its friends as it enemies. It soon becomes apparent that American diplomats do not much like foreigners.

The whole affair has proved a reminder of the advice once given by the famous Florentine diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli who when asked whether rulers should prefer to be feared rather than loved finally answered by stating that they should wish to be respected.

The WikiLeaks revelations have ensured that in future Washington may discover to its diplomatic and possible strategic cost that all four commodities, fear, love, respect and trust are going to be in much shorter supply in the main capitals of both its friends and foes.

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It is perhaps no surprise that Mr Assange is thought to be masterminding the follow-up to the leaks from a secret location, possibly in London, as he faces criminal investigations in the US, the European Union and in his native Australia. He has had to keep a low profile since Sweden issued an international arrest warrant for him on rape charges. This means that he risks being picked up in any European Union country, plus Switzerland.

The international anger has meant that the leaks have not been accompanied by the triumphant press conferences held by WikiLeaks in July and October to publicise the release of the Afghanistan war files and the Iraq war logs. The US seems determined to put an end to his activities, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledging that it is taking "aggressive steps to hold responsible those that stole this information".

US Attorney General Eric Holder says WikiLeaks is the subject of a criminal investigation and could face charges under the 1917 Espionage Act, prompting some US politicians to call for Mr Assange's execution for treason.

Aside from the furore caused by the leaks, reading them reveals the skill with which some of the diplomats performed their tasks in reporting back on the world's leading figures. Many are less than flattering, with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dismissed as "feckless, vain and ineffective as a modern European leader" with a penchant for "partying hard".

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US diplomats were similarly unimpressed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, now regarded as leading the charge to try and rescue the eurozone from financial meltdown. She is described as "risk-averse and rarely creative".

The British Royal Family is given short shrift, with Prince Andrew dismissed as "speaking cockily", during a brunch in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, allegedly criticising Britain's Serious Fraud Office probe of a huge arms deal between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia. The prince, Britain's international trade ambassador, also criticised journalists "who poke their noses everywhere" for investigating the deal.

Among the more colourful descriptions is one contained in a 2009 cable from the Libyan capital, Tripoli which reveals that the long-running leader Colonel Gaddafi "relies heavily" on his Ukrainian nurse, described as a "voluptuous blonde" with whom he is believed to enjoy a romantic relationship.

In 2008, the Moscow embassy described Russian President Dmitry Medvedev – many outside observers might think, quite accurately – as Robin to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's Batman.

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North Korea's ailing Kim Jong-Il, at the centre of the most recent international flare-up, is dismissed as a "flabby old chap" suffering from a stroke, while Iranian hard man, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is considered by the US as likely to very soon obtain a workable nuclear weapon, is referred to as "Hitler".

One of the disclosures that has sent ripples of apprehension through an already tense Middle East is the reported request of Saudi Arabia for Washington to destroy Iran's burgeoning nuclear network, by force if necessary.

The total effect of the documents – which inevitably contain many turgid passages as well as the occasional headline grabbing word portraits – is to demonstrate not only what Americans think, but also how they think. In that there is more than a whiff of that tendency of old British empire hands to refer suspiciously to the wiles of "Johnny Foreigner".

Christopher Walker is a former foreign correspondent with The Times

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