Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book is an ambitious one, discussing the serious legal, political, and ethical issues raised by media publication of unauthorized disclosures of secret diplomatic, military, and intelligence information. (Because the phrase "classified information" is a relatively modern one, it would be a historical anachronism to use that phrase for secret diplomatic, military, and intelligence information that existed before that phrase came into use.)
The author surveys American history -- from the beginnings of the United States to the present -- in an effort to identify the key issues raised by unauthorized disclosures of diplomatic, military, and intelligence secrets and their publication. The author's survey of American history is interesting, and it provides useful context and background information for his discussion of unauthorized disclosures. The author discusses arguments made in favor of publishing leaked secrets, arguments made against the publication of leaked secrets, and the strengths and weakness of the arguments on both sides.
For the most part, the author is critical of media publication of unauthorized disclosures of secret diplomatic, military, and intelligence information, and he challenges many of the arguments that have been made in favor of such publication. But, the author also notes the problem of over-classification of some government information, the value of a free press to an informed citizenry, and the practical and political difficulties of criminal prosecutions of leakers and the recipients of leaks. The author's effort at presenting the pros and cons of unauthorized disclosures and the government's response to unauthorized disclosures is an admirable effort at being fair, but it occasionally may leave the reader with the feeling that the author is ambivalent and perhaps hesitant about some of the positions he takes in the book.
Anyone interested in the subject of national security leaks should read this book.
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