[fblike]
It is like something out of a spy thriller. On May 20th, Booz Allen technical assistant Edward Snowden flew to Hong Kong carrying multiple computers that contained secret data from the National Security Agency (NSA). After leaking information about NSA spying activities to the British newspaper The Guardian, Snowden went public on June 9th and set off an international incident, as the United States government charged him with espionage, willful communication of classified intelligence to unauthorized persons, and theft of government property and demanded his extradition from Hong Kong. Snowden managed to slip out of the country and after residing for over five weeks in Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin granted him a one year asylum on August 1st. Last week, in part because of the Snowden incident, President Obama cancelled a planned summit next month with Putin, leading some to speculate whether the U.S. and Russian governments are returning to a Cold War mindset.
This brief will break down Snowden’s run from the U.S. government, which has taken up much of the summer, a brief overview of the state of U.S.-Russian relations, and then will examine the implications created by this messy international incident.
Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.
Read More
