ABSTRACT
As an intelligence contractor working at the National Security Agency (NSA), Edward Snowden downloaded an estimated 1.5 million secret documents and, after eeing the United States in May 2013, began sharing them with journalists. Newspaper reports based on the documents revealed, among other things, that the NSA collects vast amounts of data on phone and Internet activities of Americans and foreigners, spies on the leaders of close U.S. allies, and taps into a large proportion of the world’s information and communications infrastructure. If it is true that knowledge is power, then the information scooped up by the NSA surveillance system gives the United States an unparalleled advantage in global security and commercial affairs. At the same time, the Snowden affair demonstrates how the digital revolution makes it hard for governments to prevent the theft and dissemination of large amounts of sensitive information. Other high-stakes global struggles over knowledge are shaping the future of competition, freedom, and security.
