Wiki tikki tavi

There's a lot that needs to be said about the materials now coming out because of Wikileaks, but I have two initial thoughts about the matter:

• First, we can no longer assume that anything is confidential in matters of State. Electronic communications don't live in diplomatic pouches and cannot be burned. That changes the nature of statesmanship and my fear is that candor will be increasingly short supply. There are times when you need to make private judgments, but it no longer seems possible to record those judgments. My guess is that makes the world a more dangerous place.
• There's a lot more to read, but my general impression is that most of the things we're learning are things we already suspected -- North Korea and Iran are working together, for example. What is surprising is that the Arab regimes seem to be genuinely alarmed about Iran in ways they've not stated publicly. The Jerusalem Post, among others, has noticed this, detailing some of the comments from the Saudis and Jordanians, among others. Will anything come of these revelations, beyond embarrassment?