The WikiWeek: August 5, 2011

THE CABLES EUROPE Russian intelligence services used dirty tricks to intimidate American democracy-promotion NGO workers. MIDDLE EAST U.S. embassy officials in Damascus asked the Bush and Obama administrations to sanction Syria, to no avail.   THE NEWS The U.S. Congress confirms Earl Wayne as the replacement for the United States’ WikiLeaks-ousted ambassador to Mexico, Carlos ...

BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images
BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images
BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

THE CABLES

THE CABLES

EUROPE

Russian intelligence services used dirty tricks to intimidate American democracy-promotion NGO workers.

MIDDLE EAST

U.S. embassy officials in Damascus asked the Bush and Obama administrations to sanction Syria, to no avail.

 

THE NEWS

The U.S. Congress confirms Earl Wayne as the replacement for the United States’ WikiLeaks-ousted ambassador to Mexico, Carlos Pascual.

Vaughan Smith (above right, with Assange in January), who’s hosting Assange under the terms of his release, says the WikiLeaks founder "is like a moody teenager … hunted by pushy groupies."

 

THE BIG PICTURE

What WikiLeaks has in common with Rupert Murdoch.

A graphic novel tells the story of WikiLeaks (in Italian).

Charles Homans is a special correspondent for the New Republic and the former features editor of Foreign Policy.

More from Foreign Policy

Residents evacuated from Shebekino and other Russian towns near the border with Ukraine are seen in a temporary shelter in Belgorod, Russia, on June 2.
Residents evacuated from Shebekino and other Russian towns near the border with Ukraine are seen in a temporary shelter in Belgorod, Russia, on June 2.

Russians Are Unraveling Before Our Eyes

A wave of fresh humiliations has the Kremlin struggling to control the narrative.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shake hands in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shake hands in Beijing.

A BRICS Currency Could Shake the Dollar’s Dominance

De-dollarization’s moment might finally be here.

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in an episode of The Diplomat
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in an episode of The Diplomat

Is Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’ Factual or Farcical?

A former U.S. ambassador, an Iran expert, a Libya expert, and a former U.K. Conservative Party advisor weigh in.

An illustration shows the faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted by wavy lines of a fragmented map of Europe and Asia.
An illustration shows the faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted by wavy lines of a fragmented map of Europe and Asia.

The Battle for Eurasia

China, Russia, and their autocratic friends are leading another epic clash over the world’s largest landmass.