On Edward Snowden and Surveillance

I had the chance to write a whitepaper for the Germany-based Friedrich Ebert Foundation, capturing my thoughts and observations on the still unfolding revelations about the National Security Agency and Edward Snowden. My main observation: The extent of the US government’s surveillance system is stunning but not surprising. The most upsetting aspect of PRISM, however, is not its sophistication and scope of data collection but the fact that it embodies the very worst of counterterrorism culture. Read the full paper here (PDF).